


watch you weave and breathe your story lines

by carceryvale



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Accidental Voyeurism, Case Fic, Eventual Smut, F/M, Female Reader, Mutual Pining, Near Death Experiences, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn, entomologist reader, ive done too much research into moth genitalia for this to remain pg13, this is for me but yall can read it too
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-23
Updated: 2019-12-09
Packaged: 2020-10-26 10:43:22
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 21,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20740913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carceryvale/pseuds/carceryvale
Summary: You moved to Kepler, WV to get away from people and closer to nature.Technically it worked out for you, just not in the ways you had planned.In between your new strange neighbors at Amnesty Lodge and late-night phone calls with no one on the other end, all you want to do is chill out with some bugs.





	1. silkworm

**Author's Note:**

> check the bottom notes for trigger warnings and world stuff

It'd be fitting to end this chapter of your life by dramatically throwing your phone into the Greenbrier River and watching the dark waves roll and crash over themselves before getting back into your old Jeep and driving off. 

It’d be fitting, but you have to think about the turtles. Plus you still have Flappy Bird on this thing, it may be useless to you now but you could probably still sell it.  
You sigh and tuck your phone back into your pocket.  
_Watch out Kepler, here I come. _

*** 

Driving with an actual map is fucking hard. Your Grandpa’s old cabin-your’s now you suppose- was up on Topside long past where the roads stopped. Your last neighbor was some old Amnesty Lodge but even that was far in your rearview by the time you pulled up the unkempt driveway. With what few bags holding all your earthly possessions in hand, you let yourself in.  
You had always been close to your grandfather and his passing had hit you the hardest. Being his closest relative- your grandmother dying before you were born and your own parents too busy with their careers to raise their favorite little tax exemption- you were let the majority of his estate. Some people might look at your grandfather’s cabin- in the middle of the woods in a literal tech dead zone and give you a pity smile with their “I’m so sorry about your loss,” but you hadn’t been a real sociable person these past few years anyway. 

Bugs were more your thing.

“Come on Vanilla.” You picked up the cage of your highly beloved Brazilian Black tarantula. “Welcome home.”  
Like your grandfather before you Entomology was your calling. Vanilla had been his ‘education outreach tool’ before he passed and as far back as you could remember there had always been some spider or scorpion friend to play with at home. The walls of his-your- cabin showed off his passion as well. Displays featuring _Anisoptera_\- dragonflies,_ Rhopalocera_\- butterflies, and _Lepidoptera_\- your personal favorite, moths, hung proudly from almost every surface. 

“I think we’re going to like it here Vanilla.” You said to no one in particular, as tarantulas don’t have ears.  
Vanilla nibbles on a cricket but you have the upper hand because he’ll be up on that wall long before you're in the ground so where is your spider god now huh?

You then realize you’re trash talking a bug and also that you're starving. 

The fridge is empty of course and while there’s. . .something preserved in the cabinet you don’t want to risk your luck. You’re pretty sure there has to be some sort of general store in town and maybe you should introduce yourself to some people before getting to comfortable in the hermit life.  
“Bye-Bye Vanilla! Be back soon!” You call out behind you as you head out the door to begin the haul back to civilization.

***

On the other side of town in the Eastwood RV Park, Indrid Cold aka the Mothman sat in his hellishly warm Winnebago with one hand propped under his chin and the other making circles in the air with a pencil above one of his many notebooks as he looked into the futures.  
In the immediate future- Agent Joseph Stern was going to stumble over Jake Coolice’s snowboard, Juno Divine forgets her coffee tumbler in her car, a green Jeep drives into town, Duck Newton sets himself up to be triple jumped in checkers, and Dani talks herself out of asking Aubrey out on a date again.  
All normal there.  
A little farther ahead then.  
Barclay finally pulls off that hard dessert recipe, six-armed beings of light, Aubrey’s on fire, the Pine Guard discussing. . . gorp?, himself on this very couch with a lapful of human, Ned investigating a floor board in Mama’s office-  
Wait what. 

The phone at Amnesty Lodge rings.  
Duck and Aubrey look at each other.  
“I, uh, actually have to go over to the Cryptonomica-“

“Duck. I answered it last time. The turn system doesn’t work if you don’t take your turn.” 

“How about I’ll answer it the next two times?”

“Do you promise?” 

“Uhh yeah of course I promise you Audrey- Aubrey.”

Aubrey sighs and catches the phone right before the last ring.  
“Hello Audrey. He’s lying, but you know that. Can you get Barclay for me?” The pleasant voice on the other end has a bit of a strained tinge to it. “Everything’s alright Aubrey, but I do appreciate your concern.” 

“BARCLAY THERE’S A CALL FOR YOU.” Aubrey yells up the stairs before placing the phone face down and heading back to her seat. “Knight to B4.”

“We’re playing checkers.”

“I know.”

“How are you _winning_?”

Indrid nearly sighs with relief the second before Barclay picks up the phone, sounding tired.

“Indrid. What the hell-“  
“The pleasure is all mine- oh.”

Barclay snorts. “It’s too funny when you get it wrong.”

If Indrid was a lesser man-moth he would huff indignantly. “I’m a bit. . . frazzled Barclay. To cut to the chase as it were, you’ve seen a green car pass in front of your Amnesty Lodge twice now yes?”

“Yeah I was about to go check it out when it came back, figured it was just some lost tourist. You telling me it’s someone we need to worry about?”

“Your new neighbor is here to stay, she’s just headed towards town for the moment. But Barclay, I have to ask you a favor. Keep her away from me.”

Indrid could practically hear Barclay back stiffen over the phone as he went into Mama Bear mode and even though he can cut off his next question it doesn’t make the knife in the gut of his answer hurt any less.

“I’m not the one in danger, Barclay.” 

That shocks him for a second. 

“I’ll do my best.”/“I know you will.”

click! 

Indrid sits back and rubs at the bridge of his nose- or at least what he can reach with his glasses in the way. It was a bad habit- unhealthy even- to try to figure out how a certain future happens but. . .  
He catches a glimpse of himself in the reflection of a dirty cooking pan. A future like _that_\- with a young human woman looking _eager _ and _excited _( and on his lap) in the presence of the “”Mothman”” had to be a future founded in deceit and manipulation.  
Then and there Indrid Cold made a promise to stay as far out of your life as possible, for your own sake.

***

The Kepler General Store is indeed pretty general. If you ignore the ceiling, which is half tarp and the sign on the door that says something about ‘pizza-induced PTSD’ you can feel right at home shoveling dry pasta and canned vegetables into your cart. There’s an older man debating with who looks or be the only employee so sighing internally you just get into line right behind him.

“Leo. For how long have we known each other?”

“Too fucking long.”

“Exactly. So I know you have fireworks left over from last Fourth of July and I’m telling you I need them.”

The grocer apparently named Leo sighs. “Ned. I know it’s your little friends birthday and you wanna do somethin special but there’s no way I’m giving you a ton of expired fireworks to burn down the Cryptonomica with.”

Ned bangs his fists on the counter. “Come on Leo! Those would be perfect for the _Lady Flames’ Frightening Festival_! Aubrey’s birthday is tonight and I promised we’d do something on _Saturday Night Dead_, but I’m plum outta ideas! I mean, the girl likes fire and rabbits and _Firestarter_-1984 featuring Drew Barrymore- would just be in bad taste, trust me.”

Oh no. Someone is in need of your shitty b-movie knowledge.

“Um, hello?” You squeak out. Both men turn to look at you, finally realizing your presence. 

“Eh, sorry to keep you waiting ma’am I'll just-”

“Can I recommend _Night of the Lepus_?” Both men stare at you blankly. “It’s a, horror movie. About giant mutated rabbits. Sorry for listening I was just- Actually, Hi I should introduce myself, I’m new in town I just moved in my names’-”

“Night of the Lupus!” Ned claps. “Brilliant!”

“Lepus.” You correct weakly.

“Totally slipped my mind. You know I usually prefer _Saturday Night Dead _ movie specials to have a Rotten Tomatoes score of at least 10% but I think we’ll have to have an exception this time.”

“Glad I could help.” You say to both Ned and Leo, who looks at you gratefully as he rings up your groceries. 

“You said you’re new in town huh? You should come with us! _Saturday Night Dead_ really brings the whole town together.”

“Uh I don’t know. . but a fire and rabbit themed party seems pretty cool. Fuck it, sure.” You don’t mention this’ll be the first party you’ve been invited to since high school. Hopefully you don’t ruin it by talking about bugs the whole time. 

***

Barclay is absent from the night’s festivities. After the phone call from Indrid he was stuck on whether to tell Mama about the possible future of Indrid killing their new neighbor so he decided to take up the matter with the mothman himself. Its mid-spring but Indrids’ Winnebago is still the only RV parked in the clearing. Barclay steels his nerves before going to knock on the door, which of course swings open before he can. 

“Nice mothvan.” Barclay says before he can stop himself. He can’t see Indrids’ eyes but he’s sure he’d see the man with a grim look of acceptance for his awesome joke that he totally stole from Ned. 

“What are you doing here?” Indrid sighs as he steps aside to let Barclay in.

“Well, crazy thing is I had just gotten off a very alarming phone call with an old friend and, instead of immediately telling Mama the monster cop, came over to hopefully get some more information.” Barclay takes a seat where the garbage isn't too clustered.

“You’re going to tell Mama anyway and you should.” Indrid just stares at him.

“I just don't understand. . why are you suddenly going to go around killing humans? I thought you loved the Earth.” Barclay talks himself through his confusion and when he looks up to see Indrids’ face turned away a spark of realization lights up his own. “Unless. . .”

“Unless?” Indrid challenges but Barclay is already on the move. 

The various piles of crumpled paper he ignores, as well as the red-stringed map of Kepler on the wall. He goes straight for Indrids’ sketchbook and opens it up. 

“What are you- Barclay no, stop that that's private property-” Even with his height he’s no match for the Bigfoot and it just ends up looking like a remarkably sad game of keep away.

Barclay is a man on a mission as he flips through the pages, and he eventually finds what he was looking for. It’s the most recent sketch in the book and when he finds it Indrid steps down, back to his cold persona. 

“Oh ‘drid. You’re not gonna kill her at all are ya?”

The sketch is lovely, Barclay has to admit. It’s of a girl. There’s remarkable care put into detailing the features of her face and body, obviously differentiating it from Indrid’s usual half-assed vision sketches.

“Have you gotten what you came here for now?” Indrid practically spits at him.

“Well now I just have even more questions! So you had a vision of this girl and you thought she was pretty so you’re scared?” Barclay asks, thinking of possible escape routes in case this turns ugly. 

“Don’t jump to conclusions Barclay it just makes you look stupid. And besides she’s. . . clearly normal looking for a human anyway.” Barclay watches as Indrid lies through his teeth. 

“Pfft. Speak for yourself. So you don’t mind if I-” Barclay is cut off as Indrid snatches the book from his hands.

“I can tell that you’re not going to leave until I’m thoroughly _humiliated_ so here you go- I had a vision of me, and this girl, together. And obviously that can’t happen.” Indrid crosses his arms but to his credit his gaunt face remains pale. 

“Well why not?” Barclay shrugs.  
“Because I’m the goddamned **Mothman**!” Indrid blows up. 

Barclay is too stunned to respond.

Indrid takes a moment to calm down before speaking up again. “Do you know how easy it would be for me Barclay, to manipulate someone without even knowing? To do things without permission- without _consent_ -because I know the answer anyway?” 

“You wouldn’t-”

“But I could.” Indrid collapses onto a chair. “And never mind being _honest_ anyway, a place in the Pine Guard isn’t exactly a desired position and that’d be her only option if I decided to come clean about oh you know being responsible for the deaths of 46 people-”

“That wasn’t your fault!” Barclay interrupts. 

“People think it was and that’s all that matters.” Indrid lapses into silence. 

“If this is really what you want Indrid.” Barclay states, just to fill the air.

“It is. Now please, get out of my house.”

***

“You guys are my best friends I’ve ever had.” You slur over a hard lemonade. You then burst into tears. “I’m-I’m sorry, I’ve never had many friends my only friend is a spider. . . “ You hide your face but start laughing again as chorus of “New best friend!” starts up around you.

“Mrs bug lady. . . I’ll be your best friend!” A spunky guy you think is named Jake pipes up by your shoulder. You’re pretty drunk but you're also pretty sure everyone been giving Jake nonalcoholic drinks all night so the blush on his face must be from sheer excitement. 

“Me too!” Aubrey shouts right by your ear. She had loved _Night of the Lepus_ and had granted you the illustrious honor of meeting- and holding Dr. Harris Bonkers Ph.D.

“Me too.” Another girl hugs you from the back and nuzzles into your hair. “Stop crying!” This is Dani, who you had accidentally called a grasshopper earlier. Why? Crunchy.

“Yeah no crying at _Lady Flames Fighting Festival_!” Aubrey hugs you too and you quickly find yourself in the middle of a dogpile hug in the Amnesty Lodge.

“Frightening Festival. It’s on the banner Aubrey.” Ned shouts over the ruckus.

Somehow you had become endeared to nearly everyone in town- or at least the ones who showed up the the Cryptonomica for Aubrey's birthday party. When you nervously stuttered out that you lived a little past Amnesty Lodge the party had up and moved inside where public intoxication was no longer an issue.  
The door swings open and a dozen heads turn to look in its direction. A massive, furry man walks in sheepishly and makes eye contact with you for a second before looking away quickly. 

“Barclay!” Aubrey yells at the stranger. “Why weren’t you at my party?” 

“Just taking care of some business, sorry Aubs.” He says awkwardly.

“Barclay no one will let me drink. . .” Jake Coolice complains as he hangs off Barclay’s arm.

“He’s baby!” Dani shoots back. 

“Why don’t you have a drink here Barclay?” Ned passes him something particularly vile in a mug before slapping him on the back, causing him to spill most of it. “Er, oops?”

“Nope. Sorry Ned, some of us are trying to stay sober for tonight's. . . extracurriculars.” Barclay nodded at Duck who had been the unofficial parental guidance for your little party. He looked over you again and you got the feeling he was hiding something.

“Is there an after party?” You think out loud and quickly a riot forms around you.

“SLEEPOVER!” The Amnesty Lodge residents shouted in unison. 

“Barclay can she stay?” Dani asks.

“Barclay ask Mama if she can stay!” Jake commands.

Barclay nods a little too tightly but you don't notice.

***

Lather that night Duck Newton, Ned Chicane, Barclay, and Mama set themselves up outside of the Archway.  
If they are surprised to see Indrid there before them, they don’t say anything.  
“Well then. Let’s get the party started.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> firestarter is about a girl with pyrokinetic abilities that gets kidnapped by the government, leading to the death of her mother and father. i dont think aubrey would like it.  
night of the lepus is a real movie with an 8% on rotten tomatoes. i love it and so would aubrey because i say so.


	2. luna

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i like to call this chapter 'were horny for everyone except indrid'

You wake up on a bed and in a room, so things weren’t as bad as they could be. 

Looking around you could see the room was set up pretty cozily, with a log-cabin type of feel. You must still be in the Amnesty Lodge. You attempt to get up, looks like you passed on top of all the blankets like a real champ, and were immediately struck back down by your throbbing headache.

“Uurghh.” You groan and swing yourself back up to try again. Good thing they let you stay, you were in nooo condition to drive last night.  
Where is everyone anyway? You lean out of the room you’ve been lent and look down the hall. You hear voices and start heading down before your nerves can catch up with you. You poke your head into a doorway and saw that there were a few people eating breakfast. All their heads immediately turn towards you and you wave.

“Oh hey. Good morning.” A guy looks at you like you know him.

“. . .Oh yeah. Bar-Barclay right?” You kinda point at his chest in greeting. 

“Yep.” He grins. “You hungry?”

As if on cue your stomach rumbles. “Uh, apparently.”

“I’ll whip you something up. I’m the cook here.”

“Oh that’s cool.” You say lamely. “How’d your uh, ‘extracurriculars’ go last night?” You ask as more memories come flooding back.

Barclay instantly goes as stiff as a stick bug. “Oh uh. Pretty good, just you know. Chores and stuff. You like pancakes?”

“. . .Yeah pancakes are good.” Your naturally scientific mind wants to question him further but your tummy grumbles for carbs.

“Great! I’ll get going.” Barclay nearly runs away.

“Hey girl. Why don’t you sit down over here with me.” A lady calls out to you and you turn around to see an older woman patting the seat next to her. “I want to meet the newest member of Kepler for myself.”

The woman introduces herself as Mama and the owner of the lodge and you thank her graciously for lending a room to you for the night. When you ask about payment she waves it off and, out of the stupid goodness of your heart, you offer to show off your house. 

“Y’know that sounds lovely. Thank you.” Mama accepts.

Congratulations you’ve been in town for less than 24 hours and you’ve already invited over a stranger. You haven’t even unpacked yet, never mind fed-Oh my God you haven’t checked in on Vanilla.  
You choke on your bite of pancake. 

“You alright there?” Mama looks at you worriedly.

“I just remembered- I have to get home.” You look down at your plate of woefully unfinished pancakes. You consider shovelling them into your mouth, they’re that good. Barclay might be a lumberjack of a man but he’s basically the culinary version of Bob Ross.

“Well hell I don’t have any plans right now, why don’t I come with ya?” Mama slaps you on the back and gets out of her chair. 

In that moment you can feel everyone’s eyes on you. Most of their expressions are blank but in some you can see- worry? Fear? The same people who had been by your side all last night are now watching you as if one wrong step might be your last. 

This woman is going to kill you isn’t she.

“Sounds great!” You say through your teeth.

***  
“So uh, this is my home. Well I mean it was my grandpa’s before he passed last month.” You hold the door open with the hand that isn’t holding your bag of forgotten groceries from the day before.

“Sorry about your loss.” Mama replies as she looks around. “Your mom and dad gonna be moving in with you?”

You shake your head. “No, I was really raised by my gramps. My parents are big city folk, I don’t think they could survive out here in the NRQZ.” You laugh a little sadly. 

Mama nods. “Was your grandpa the one responsible for all these bug displays?”

You perk up at the opportunity to infodump. “Yeah. He was a pretty famous entomologist- spent his life studying species right here in West Virginia but he did some work in other countries too- and I’m sort of following in his footsteps.” Mama looks over at you and you smile widely. 

“Would you like to meet Vanilla?"

Vanilla is unfazed by your absence. 

“Hi baby!” You coo as you refill his water dish. “Mama’s here with- well Mama!” You let the spider climb onto your two outstretched hands and make kissy faces at him before you notice Mama looking at you weirdly. “Would you like to touch him?”

Mama runs a finger down Vanilla’s furry back without shivering so she obviously can’t be that bad.

“Odd choice for a pet.” Mama says as she takes her hand back. 

“Honestly, I wouldn’t have anything else. Except maybe an orchid mantis, those things are pretty.”

“Ya got one of those on display?” Mama asks, unknowing opening the floodgates.

After showing off the Mantelpiece of Mantises you led Mama on an official tour of the Bug House. After the mantises were the beetles, then pollinators, and then the balcony where your grandpa had bred moths and butterflies, being set up with cages and jars to prepare them for mounting.  
“This is very interesting, thank you for showing me.” Mama said, and when you looked over at her she seemed to be telling the truth. You practically beamed.

Oh fuck it. You let the smile overtake your face. “Thank you.”  
It was rare for you to get praise for your chosen profession, you were so used to the cruel words and lukewarm insults any change at all was welcome.

It didn't hurt that Mama was a rather attractive woman who was in your house. You opened your mouth, probably too say some stupid shit.

And then the phone rang from inside.

“That’s odd, no one should have this number. . .” You turned away. “I’ll go get it? So sorry about this.” You head for the phone. 

“I have a pretty good idea of who it might be.” Mama sighs and heads after you.

You look at her in confusion before picking up the phone. “Uhm. . . hello? How did you get this number?” 

“Hey there it’s me Duck. Newton? We met last night.”

“Yeah I remember you but- the phones shouldn’t even be set up- how did you get my number?”

“Well you see uh, I have a friend. And my friend he’s uh, very intuitive and- No? No, okay I don’t have a friend. Fuck, I mean- I have friends! Just earlier the friend I was talking about doesn’t exist. Please just put Mama on the phone.” 

You hand the phone to Mama. “It’s Duck?”

“Getting Duck to do the dirty work.” Mama grumbles as she takes the phone, leaving you to wonder what the fuck is going on. 

“I’ll give you some privacy then.” You wander away, questioned what the fuck just happened.

“Thank you girl, I’ll be out of your hair in a minute.” Mama says after you. “Good fucking job keeping a low profile.” She growls into the phone.

***  
“Hey it’s not my fucking fault! Indrid just- fuck you take the phone.” Duck shoves the phone back at Indrid, who flawlessly catches it of course. 

“Hello, figured you’d want to know some of the information we’ve gathered. It’s rather impressive if I do say so myself. Meet you at the lodge!” And then he hangs up.

“So. . . what was that about?” Duck asks.

“What was what about?” Indrid brushes him off.

“The whole dialing the number but making me answer bit. I mean warn a guy next time, you know I’m no good at lying-”

Indrid begins to walk away. “Oh yes Duck I’ll be sure to keep your needs at the front of my -already very occupied- mind.” 

“Hey don’t you walk away from me!” 

***

Mama excused herself, citing Duck needing help with something or other as the reason, leaving you alone to finally catch your breath. You lean back in an overstuffed armchair and exhale loudly into the empty space, closing your eyes in sheer relaxation.  
Less than a minute passes before they shoot back open and you’re back on your feet. The house is too big, and too quiet, and you just feel too out of place. 

Maybe you should get a dog, but just the thought has you groaning as you pull on a pair of hiking boots and shut the door behind you.

***

“I’ve connected the dots!” / “I’ve connected the dots!” One sentence, two voices.

“You didn’t connect shit.” Indrid responds to himself in his usually unnervingly jovial manner, easily avoiding the flurry of (mostly) harmless fury Aubrey was raining down on him.

“I’ve connected them!” / “I’ve connected them!”

Mama opens the door leading down to the Amnesty Lodge basement, sparing a second to close her eyes and sigh before walking down into what was sure to be some absolute buffoonery. 

“Now where have you been?” Ned Chicane asks her with a raised eyebrow like he had any right to question Mama in her own goddamn house.

“Scoutin’.” Mama looks over her Pine Guard like a weary mother goose who had just herded her children across a busy country road, counting heads to make sure everyone had made it. Ned was seemingly waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs and gestured at the rest of her family with a grand sweep that went ignored by everyone else, all of them already too used to Ned making everything a certified ordeal. Indrid was their newest member and while Mama honestly didn't know how long he was planning to stay she certainly wasn’t going to turn down help from a clairvoyant, he was humoring Aubrey as she tried to land a hit on him and playfully mocking her the whole time. Barclay and Duck were engaged in conversation over the lab table in the center of the room where their gathered evidence seemed to be laid out so at least Mama could count on them to have eyes on the prize. 

“Alright boys, what’d you find?” Mama moves over the table and leaned over to get a good look. “I am so tired of looking at bugs.” 

Because that’s what it was of course. Creepy crawlies, little beasties, of course the newest abomination would be some horrid hivemind that’d drive the bugs of Kepler crazy. 

“Mama, so. . . did you scout out the potential threat that we agreed on?” Barclay asks, trying to sound vague to avoid attention but instead gaining it.

Mama shrugs, not getting the need for subtlety. “Yeah I went over to the bug scientists house this morning. I don’t understand the obsession sure, but honestly- it's real suspicious. First we have the water monster to go up against Aubrey-” And she motioned towards the punk girl who’d finally stepped down from her unwinnable battle. “-then a tree the changes the future nets us the Mothman-” and she makes another motion to Indrid who she hasn't noticed go stone still. “And now. We get a bug monster. And who moves into town?” 

A wave of uneasy silence fell over the room.

“Sounds to me like it’s just some much-needed luck.” Duck said. 

Mama chuckles a little at that. “Yeah, I sure wish I could see it your way Duck.” She looks back down to the table. Thanks to your tour earlier she can even recognize some of the critters. There’s a monarch, a cicada, a handful of ladybugs and-

“Uhp. You gotta breather!” Mama looks down at where a beetle was turned onto its back with all six legs waving frantically in the air. 

“I got it.” Duck moves in with a flyswatter at the same time Indrid chimes in. “This is what we actually wanted to show you.”

The beetle doesn't stand a chance against the strength and aim of a forest ranger with a grudge and goes _splat!_ against the table in an oily puddle. 

“Impressive.” Mama says sarcastically. “I can’t count on all the fingers in Kepler how many dead bugs I’ve seen today so unless you got somethin else real special I’m writing today off as a big ol’ failure.”

“No, no.” Duck pokes it again. “Watch it.”

Mama does. The carapace was split in two with the wings almost fully exposed, its tiny head was crushed completely and each of its legs was-

They were still _moving_.

***

“Country roads. . . take me home. . .to the place. . . where I belong. . .” You hum off key as you wander aimlessly through the thick woods surrounding your house. There's a couple landmarks you remember from old visits when you were much, much younger so you’re confident enough that you won't get lost, but risking enough to have a little fun.

“WEST VIRGINIA!” You shout because why not, you're alone and no one can criticize you out here. Hell yeah you own these woods. “MOUNTAIN MAMA!” Finally at peace. Away from people, just you and your beloved nature. No one to bother you. “TAKE ME HOME, COUNTRY ROA-”

“Excuse me ma’am.”

“AH WHATHEFUCK?” You spin around to see; absolutely nothing.

“Over here.” You walk a few feet to your right.” “Look down.” You look down. 

“What the fuck?” 

“Could you please stop yelling? My name is Agent Stern and I’m conducting some very important research for the FBI-”

“Are you wearing a fucking _ghillie suit?_ Wait, are you wearing _an actual fucking suit under a ghillie suit its like 60 fucking degrees out are you okay?_

The man- Agent Stern- who is the weirdest fucking thing you’ve ever seen and you have seen some weird shit, looks up at you from his snipers position.

“I’ll answer your questions if you answer some of mine.” He challenges you like you’re on equal footing. You guess he technically is because he may be lying supine in a forest for god knows why but you were screaming Take Me Home Country Roads at the top of your lungs.

‘Fine.” You agree. 

“Good.” he stands up. “Please enter my bunker.” He points to what is clearly just a hunting blind behind him. 

You’re really just about to risk your life twice in one day huh. 

All worries about this strange, strange man being dehydrated were washed away when you enter the “bunker”. It’s very well stocked with water and Agent Stern offers you a bottle from a cooler but- even though he is pretty handsome he is wearing a swamp suit in the middle of a forest in spring and your Grandpa raised you right. 

You politely decline. 

Agent Stern introduces himself as a member of the FBI’s special task force dedicated to the paranormal and it takes you all of five seconds to decide the heat may have gone to his head a little too hard.

He’s out here hunting for Bigfoot, he says.

“That’s cool!” You nod. He is clearly an example of the hot-but-crazy type, and the longer you stay out here the handsomer he gets and the more sense he makes. You gotta get outta here. 

“My ex was a cryptozoologist.” Time to make things weird. You are going to make things weird. “He made a couple videos. Total clickbait.”

Agent Stern asks for your ex boyfriends patreon. You give him a fake one. He talks about Bigfoot some more.  
“Do you like bugs? I’m sorta like, a bug expert.” Ah yes. The good ol’ mood ruiner. No one can hold a conversation with you after you’ve told them that the chad damselfly's fuck for about an hour compared to dragonflies lasting mere seconds. 

“No. I didn’t know that.” Agent Stern finally looks as disturbed as you feel. 

“. . . Anyway, nice to meet you! I’ll be more courteous from now on, sorry!” You bolt out the front door-flap and begin to walk away as fast as you can without being suspicious. When you’re a safe distance away you lean against a tree to catch your breath. Your head hits the trunk with a soft thump and you close your eyes.

Something starts to crawl across your face. 

You’re as calm as a milk-fat kitten as you move your hand up to give a new surface to your new friend. Probably some type of weevil, or a borer. Before you open your eyes you take comfort in the barely there scratches of whatever bug is in your hand. 

But it’s way too big for a weevil. You open your eyes.

“What the hell?”

***

“This isn’t happening.” You’re losing your mind. Tears of disbelief burn hot and angry at the corners of your eyes. In front of you, laid out on the kitchen table you ate at countless times as a child, is a vision from hell.

Monstrosities. Horrors. Abominations. 

Its like some cruel god was bored and decided to make your backyard their personal playground. Pinned down right by your left hand is a tick the size of a bottle cap, engorged with some unknown blood. By your right- you can’t even tell. It has the body of a wasp but with two sets of iconic monarch butterfly wings and instead of a head a whole cockroach sprouts. And there are more. Once you had found a few of these bug corpses you hadn’t been able to stop. A moth the size of your face, a dung beetle with two heads, a grasshopper with four sets of legs.

In the center is what you had found in the forest. An orchid mantis, pale pink and deceptively docile. It stares at you with an almost eerie intelligence.  
Orchid mantises are only native to Southeast Asia yet here you are! With a live specimen among her dead, horrifying cohorts. You had hurriedly set up an enclosure from one of the many empty ones lying around but you have no idea what to do with it.

You have no idea what to do with any of it.

You push yourself away from the table. You need to call someone, anyone. 

Amnesty Lodge? You don’t know their number and like hell are you going outside with those monsters out there. 

The police? And say what, I found some weird looking bugs please bomb the forest?

Agent Stern?? No.

You get the phone and you still haven’t made up your mind. You look at your grandfather's hand-written list of emergency contacts before your eyes come to rest on a name that links up with some memories. 

“Hello? Can I speak with Duck Newton please?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> indrid im sorry well get to you eventually 
> 
> this was originally one big chapter but its going to be split!! half the effort twice the profit baby  
okay uh. this chapters really late becuase of a lot of things  
1\. im aware mamas probably OOC in the beginning but she is actively scouting your house for threats so   
2\. the stern scene wasnt supposed to be that long but the idea of him in a ghillie suit was too fucking funny for me   
3\. the "ive connected the dots/you didnt connect shit" bit was inspired by a fanart and im pretty sure it was deleted so op if your out there this one goes out to you


	3. io

“Duck I know this sounds weird but. I think there’s something wrong in Kepler.”

Duck looks like he’s going to be sick. “I don’t. . I don’t _not_ think this is weird but uh fuck um can I call for help? I’m not qualified to-” 

“Duck!” Your voice is rapidly approaching a shriek. “Lookadit!” You shook your hands at everything in the kitchen.

Duck decided staying silent was his best option. 

“Mr. Newton.” You clasped your hands in a symbolic effort of keeping your shit together. “Do you know what’s going on here? With the bugs? In Kepler?” You enunciated every word, giving him no loopholes out.

Duck made a noncommittal groaning sound and began to look around the room wildly. “You know this isn’t really my job I’m really more of a tree guy-”

“You either know something or you don't!” In any other situation you might feel sorry for the poor forest ranger who obviously couldn’t lie worth a damn- you had definitely called him past office hours and he obviously had no idea how to handle a woman in loungewear absolutely convinced she was either A. losing her mind or B. on the brink of a horrifying discovery. 

Also in any other situation you might have felt embarrassed for your “Save the Bees!” tee shirt matched with the infamous _Are you Nasty?_ red shorts (nicked from your old roommate) but there were more pressing things at hand. “Yes or no, Duck!”

“. . . I can’t tell you. I’m sorry.” That’s the closest to an answer you’re going to get. 

You do scream then, holding your skull in your hands and folding in two. You stomp off to the phone and Duck follows close behind watching both you and his own back. “Here.” You unenthusiastically shove the receiver into his chest. “Call the whole damn town up. Come poke fun at the freak in the forest, just get me some fucking answers.” You leave him to dial. 

You sit back down at the kitchen table lose yourself in counting fractals of dragonfly wings.

***

You’re feeding Vanilla and your new orchid mantis when the doorbell rings. You don’t move to open it. The mantis should be fine surviving on Vanilla’s crickets for now but you’d have to put out a fly trap soon.

“Guess I gotta name you now huh?” Because God knows you can't release it back into nature, you won’t be responsible for introducing an invasive species. “Hmm. . . Parfait? Strawberry?”  
Someone coughs behind you.

You turn around, very not-horror-movie like and see that Duck hasn’t invited a friend or two to your place, no, this man has invited his whole squad. 

And yes, you have calmed down enough to regret the Nasty shorts.

“Aubrey? Mr. Chicane-wait, Barclay?! Mama!” Your brain short circuits as you realize you recognize everyone in the room. Or well, almost everyone. “Who the fuck are you!?” The last guy- tall, white hair, weird glasses, nice, nice- gets the brunt of your confusion just because he’s the only one you don’t know. 

Mama steps forward before he can answer. “Now I understand you might have gotten spooked out there in the forest tonight, Agent Stern said he ran into you out there and we all know his far fetched theories, wouldn’t be surprised if one of his horror stories just stuck with you.”

“Agent Stern is batshit.” You huff. “I’m not talking about _Bigfoot_ I found _The Fly_ gone wrong in my own backyard. Not to mention this!” You gesture to Strawberry Parfaits cage.

“That’s one of those orchid mantises. I remember you showed me one of them, said they were your favorite right?” Mama comes in close to the cage. 

Somethings clicks.

“You were _investigating_ me this morning! You think I have something to do with all this?” You take an angry breath. “You don’t actually give a shit about my bug collection- okay yeah now this all makes sense actually.”

You rub your temples as you lead the group of strangers into the kitchen. “I found all of these in the woods north of here. Near the stone archway?” 

Your seemingly innocent comment causes the group to erupt into mass chaos.

“How do you know about the archway?” Barclay asks while Mama throws up her hands. 

“I-I don’t know? It's been there since I was a kid? My grandpa used to take me out to see it.” You stutter your way through an explanation and you can feel your face heating up. “Am I. . . not supposed to?”

“No. You're not supposed to.” Barclay sighs. “It’s hard to explain.”

“Well you’re doing a shit job so far.” You snort. Your eyes drift from the crowd to the wall and they come to rest upon a frame of mounted scorpions. When you were a kid that display was directly across from your seat at the table, leaving you with many memories with that display in your periphery. You step towards it and raise a finger intending to wipe the dust from the glass.

There’s a crash behind you and before you can react you feel yourself being pulled backwards, away from the wall. All conversation stops and when you look back you see everyone staring at the man with the glasses, who had apparently jumped over the table to grab your arm.

You look at the reflection of yourself in his mirrored lenses, seeing your own face full of shock and confusion before he turns towards the others.

“We have to leave, _now_.” He states, and his voice is so unfitting for his body but you also can’t imagine anything else. Strange and lilting, he demands the attention of the room and the amnesty folk seemed inclined to follow whatever directions he gives out. They begin to hustle and bustle to the exit but you plant your feet.

‘What? No-this is _my house_ I’m not just going to leave-”

_CRSSH_

You are interrupted by the sound of breaking glass behind you. You whip your head around and see the very display you had been about to touch-

The scorpion's stinger had curled up with an impossible force, puncturing the glass right where your hand would have been. As your eyes dart around wildly they take in more impossible sights. Your specimens were breaking their frames, tearing themselves off of their pins and escaping into the nooks and crannies of your house. Your knees go weak and you find yourself being pulled out against your will. You’re pulled past Mama, who is duel wielding fly swatters as she’s dive bombed by bugs, and Aubrey who is shooting fire bullets out of finger guns.

“Are any of these bugs poisonous?” Duck yells at you.

“No!” You yell back

He seems to relax.

“They are highly venomous!” You clarify. Duck swears and- undoes his belt? And then his belt turns into a sword and you have officially lost track of the evening.

You make it outside finally, one hand covering your nose and moth and the other in a death grip around the bicep of the strange man who seemed to predict what would happen.  
The other pour our after you, equally out of breath but probably not for the same reason.  
“Fucking hell Indrid can you let us on a little earlier next time?” Duck pants.

“I’ll certainly try.” The man- Indrid- says dryly.

“A niccce warm-up Duck Newton.” Duck’s sword says, making the mouth on the hilt move in ungodly ways. “But where isss the real battle?” You must make a sound of surprise because the sword turns towards you and makes everything worse. “Oh? I see you’re making new friends Duck Newton.”

You turn to Duck, terrified. 

“This is Beacon.” Is all Duck does to explain.

“Yess! A mysstical weapon, a slovenly knight, and now an enchanting princcesss. . .” 

“Alright you’re going back to Beltville buddy.” Duck shakes Beacon until he’s just holding a length of chain that he loops around his waist. 

Aubrey’s hands are on fire and you stare at them until they extinguish with just a shake of her wrists. 

Ned comes up behind you, laughing loudly. “Welcome to Kepler!” 

You finally unwind your arm from Indrid’s and just stare at the others.

“Can I have some explanations now, _please_.”

***

It’s a long, awkward ride back to Amnesty Lodge. You have Vanillas cage on your lap, you refused to leave without him and Indrid had agreed to go back inside to save you from having to traipse through the broken glass littering the hallways. Mama refused to let you bring the orchid mantis but Indrid returned with news that it had escaped during the chaos anyway.

Aubrey and Barclay do the majority of explaining. They're part of a secret club called the Pine Guard that protects not one but two worlds linked together by stone archways all around the globe, and that Barclay and Indrid and all the residents of the Lodge are aliens from the planet that is slowly dying because of humanity's greed.

You nod and hum thoughtfully at the appropriate times but the majority of it is lost on you.

The Abominations, or bom-boms, also come through the gate and they are Bad Aliens. This latest one- Duck pipes up and describes it as a ‘writhing mass of hell’- seemed to drive insects crazy and also raise them from the dead. 

At least that you can understand. Bad monster, gotta put it down. Serious saving the world business.

“Uh, anything else?” Barclay looks at Aubrey. You’re in the main room at Amnesty now, with everyone's eyes on you, watching to see if you decide to run away screaming or outright faint.

“What do you think,” Aubrey looks you up and down. “About cryptids?”

You scoff. “Cryptids? Like Bigfoot and Mothman and all that?” You take a sip of your mug that you can’t remember asking for, only to find its just filled with hot eggnog and whipped cream. “Not highly if I'm being honest.” 

Nervousness flashes across the others faces and your face goes red in embarrassment. 

“It-it’s just a personal thing! My ex boyfriend was really _really_ into cryptozoology and he did cheat on me at the Mothman Festival-”

“What?” Indrid’s shocked laughter interrupts you and you roll your eyes.

“Yeah I know right? Turns out Mothman did me a solid there, but like- I don’t mean to offend. If like they’re real I’m sure they're very nice people but as concepts I am absolutely done.” You take another long sip of your hot nog to avoid any awkward eye contact.

“There’s a _festival_?” Indrid sputters.

“Yeah, up in Point Pleasant? There’s a museum and a statue and- is Mothman real is that what we're getting at?” You look accusingly at the Pine Guard.

“I don’t know.” Aubrey says suspiciously. “Is Mothman real?”

“Barclays Bigfoot.” Ned jabs a thumb at the cook. To his credit Barclay just sighs, seemingly used to it.

“Huh.” You check him out. Tall, hairy, and yep. Big Feet. You stick out your hand and Barclay shakes it. “Nice to officially meet you Mr. Foot.”

“Just Barclay, please.” Barclay smiles. You hear someone clear their throat and turn to where Indrid is standing on the other end of the room. He hasn’t said a word since you left your house and now he nervously fiddles with his oversized glasses while his other hand remains fisted deep in his jeans pocket.

“Well, I really don’t prefer the title, but some people do call me the Mothman.” He admits with a small grin.

“Mothman huh?” You eye him intensely and his grin falters as he nods. “Could you do me a favor and just-” You spin your finger in a circle and Indrid stiffly turns 360 degrees. 

“Huh.” You lean back. “Guess the statue got one thing right at least.” 

To your surprise its Mama that lets out a bark of laughter. “I think you’ll do fine. C’mon let me show you to your room.”

***

“I don’t get it, was that a joke? Or-”

“She was complimenting your ass ‘Drid.”

“. . .Oh.”

***

“You’re taking to this pretty well.” Mama mused as she led you up the stairs.

“I’ve pretty much convinced myself this is all part of a natural gas-induced hallucination.” You admitted. “I’ll probably wake up tomorrow, have a panic attack, but then be cool again.” Mama huffs a laugh.

“Speaking of cool. . .” You start. “Indrid. Is he like- is he cool?” You try to bring up the subject plaguing your mind all night subtlety.

Unfortunately for you, Mama took to subtlety like a bull to a china shop. “Indrid Cold is probably one of the least cool people I’ve ever met.”

“Well, yeah.” You avert your eyes in embarrassment. You wouldn’t be interested in him otherwise. “But is he like- y’know _cool_?” You blush.

“That natural gas sure took a toll on your head huh?” Mama jokes and you roll your eyes. 

The gentle giant Barclay moonlighting as Bigfoot was one thing but Hot Mess Mothman was a whole different animal. Literally.

You finally reach the floor where your new room resides and Mama stops. There’s another new face seemingly waiting for you, leaning against a doorframe lost in thought. When she caught your eye her face lit up tremendously leaving you feeling like you had to know her from somewhere because no mere stranger would ever look at you like that. 

“Moira.” Mama says, and you can tell by her voice she’s just as surprised as you are. “This is-“

“I know.” Moira interrupts, then smiles apologetically at Mama. “Could I take over from here?”

She and Mama exchange a few looks, leaving you bouncing between them like a stray ping pong ball. Mama relents with a shrug and claps you on the back, knocking you breathless. “Go ahead.”

She walks back downstairs, leaving you alone with Moira.

“Hello?” You put your hand out awkwardly, no longer able to stand the silence. Moira seems to gather herself and walk towards you, taking your outstretched hand in between her own. As close as she is now you can see her eyes are wet.

“I’m sorry, I’m sure you’ve been through a lot today and- I knew you’d come around eventually but you’re here so _soon_-I thought I’d have more time to prepare. . .” She cuts herself off with a laugh. “You look so much like your grandmother. Honeycomb, she would have loved you.”

You have to look away then. “I think you have the wrong person.” Moira can only be a few years older than you, and your grandmother died before you were born. Moira shakes her head, resolute. When she pulls her hands away you see she had slipped a small slip of paper in your hand, weathered from age and folded over to many times to count. When you finally unfold it you see it's not actually paper at all but a photograph. There’s your grandfather _young_ and _alive_ staring lovingly at your equally young and happy grandmother. But the most surprising thing in the photo is the girl sitting right by her, arm slung over her shoulder and posing like best friends or even sisters would, ignoring their male companion for what was probably not the first or last time. Moira was there, and she didn’t look a day older than how she stands in front of you now. 

Your eyes go from the photo, to Moira, to the photo, and then to Moira again.

“You look the same.” You eventually say, if only to say anything at all.

“I should hope so.” Moira laughs. “I did die only a year after that photo was taken.”

You blanch. “My condolences?” 

Moira only hums and shakes her head. “Influenza, honeycomb. Queenie was always pushing me to get those vaccinations but it’s hard to get papers when you weren’t exactly born on this planet. How she ever got the go ahead to get her name on a marriage license is beyond me.”

Things start to click. Even worse, things start to make sense. 

“You knew my grandmother. You called her Queenie. You called me _honeycomb_.” 

Moira looked hurt. “Should I not have?”

You don’t hear her and keep barrelling on. “You’re from that other planet- Sylvain. You’re from Sylvain but you know- you knew my grandma. For a long time it seems like.” 

You’re dimly aware of the fact that your legs feel like they might give out. 

Moira just nods, and there’s a smile on her face and damning understanding in her eyes. You open your mouth but you can’t force the words to come out. 

“She hatched a few days before I was born.” Moira says matter-of-factly, like that sentence actually makes sense. 

You exhale a single loud and obviously fake laugh before the room starts to spin.

“My grandma’s an aliennnnn. . .” You sing-song to absolutely no one. “Does that mean I’m Sylvain?”

“You’re a Slyph, or at least part one.” Moira explains, helping keep you steady. “Sylvain is her own being.”

“I thought Sylvain was a planet?” You mutter.

“All planets are living things honeycomb.” Moira rubs small circles into your back soothingly. “Oh, Queenie should be here. She should be the one telling you all this, I can’t believe your grandfather would leave you in the dark about your own heritage!” She cried.

“Not completely.” You sigh. “I’m here now, aren’t I?”

Moira looks you in the eyes and nods, a stiff jerk of her head to keep her tears from falling. “Welcome home.”

***

You spend more time with Moira then you probably should have and by the end of your teary genealogy session you’re calling her Auntie and she has to excuse herself, probably to cry some more. You don’t blame her.

You close the door to your room as quietly as you can and don’t exhale until you hear it click shut. Vanilla’s already set up, and that’s really all you have to your name right now. When you lay down the sheets are crisp and the pillows are cool, and you can hear the sounds of the nightlife from the window.

But you still can’t sleep. Whenever you close your eyes images of swarming insects terrorize you and you want to slap yourself. You were a _scientist_-who was also part alien but you didn’t have to think about that right now- and now you were scared of a few bugs?

You toss and turn for what feels like hours, only to glare at the digital clock on your nightstand when it only reads 15 minutes since the last time you checked it.

_Fuck it._ You groan inwardly as you lick a stripe up the palm of your hand. Might as well wear yourself out the old-fashioned way.

***

Downstairs Indrid Cold’s body tenses so suddenly he snaps a pencil in half.

He’s trying -or he's supposed to be trying- to see where the Abomination is going to be tomorrow and what, if any, plans of action the Pine Guard could start incorporating when he lets his focus drop for just a second.

_ and you’re there, mouthing breathy little “ah, ah, ahs” into your pillow- _

He grits his teeth and forces his mind back to the task at hand-

_ -and not to yours which was knuckle deep in your core- _

He shuts down that train of thought entirely and instead picks up every meaningless thing he can get his hands on.

Duck Newtons cat was going to clean itself, Barclay snored like a train, Kirby was going to chuck his PS4 controller at the screen, somewhere out in the woods a tree falls and makes a sound-

_ -unlike you who was biting down hard on your lip to stifle any sounds you made as you rode out the crest of your pleasure-_

Indrid buries his face in his hands, as much as his glasses allow anyways, and lets out a strangled cry. It was purely accidental and he doesn’t have a choice but that doesn’t change how wrong it feels to be viewing your private moments like this. 

He groans as he remembers how he made a fool out of himself earlier, nearly jumping over the kitchen table in your own house to stop you from merely touching the display. He could have just yelled, or even politely asked you to stop but as soon as he saw _that_ future- the one of you crying out in shock and pain as the scorpion stinger drove shards of glass into your hand alongside its horrible venom- he hadn’t been able to stop himself. 

And you had grabbed his arm and let yourself be rushed out- by him!- and you smiled and joked and even complimented him -Indrid still had to find a way to see a picture of that Mothman statue, radio silence zone be damned- and yet here he is. Watching you pleasure yourself from three floors down and two rooms to the right. 

He straightens out and rubs at his eyes under his glasses. When he looks back down at his sketchbook he freezes, then slams the book shut and throws it across the room.

He’ll definitely need to ask someone- not him of course fuck no- to approach you about your masturbation habits. He can’t be filling his _important future vision notebooks_ with softcore erotica about his coworker every time his mind decides to betray him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the delay heres your explicit rating
> 
> reader is going to officially have a playbook and i'll try to keep her evenly leveled with the pine guard, bonus points to anyone who guesses what playbook lol


	4. death's head

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i finally fixed the bottom notes rip me myself and i

When you wake up in Amnesty Lodge for the second time in two days, you promise yourself it's not going to become a habit. 

True to your words from the night before you allow yourself a small breakdown (aliens?? monsters?? secret societies??) before forcing yourself to calm down. Whatever creature they’re hunting destroyed your fucking house and you’re no use to the hunt if you can’t wrap your head around a few sci-fi tropes.

There’s a pile of clothes on the dresser that aren’t yours but a note on top from Aubrey explains she’s letting you borrow them, because you didn’t exactly have time to pack before you were swarmed. You smile as you grab the pile and head to the en suite bathroom, thankful for the thought and relieved you wouldn’t have to spend the next couple of days in your pajamas.

***

“The Abomination is somewhere around here.” Indrid points to the depths of the forest on the map of Kepler he has spread out between cups of coffee and unfinished breakfast plates. “What are your plans?”

“I thought that was your job.” Ned mutters and Indrid shoots him a (useless) glare.

“_Well,_” He huffs. “There’s futures where you go in unprepared and die, sit and do nothing and die, try your hardest but still die, and run away in fear and you guessed it: die. I was simply asking which one you prefer.”

"Alright, I get it.” Ned waves off all matters of his death. He’s Ned ‘Unkillable’ Chicane for a reason. “I was thinking we do some more research, we got the bug doctor now-”

“Entomologist.” Indrid interrupts, a little to quickly.

“Righhttt. . .” Ned nods and Indrid doesn't like the look he gives him. “I think we should get into groups and one of us can go to the library, one of us can do some reconnaissance, etcetera.”

“That’s a great idea!” Aubrey pops up behind Ned and puts a hand on his shoulder, joining in on staring down Indrid with that weird look. “You should take her around town, show her some nice spots-”

“Wolf Ember Lodge for lunch. French onion soup, life changing.” Duck pipes up. 

“Look at trees and bugs or whatever-”

“And maybe take her back to the ol’ Winnebago afterwards, huh?” Ned winks and throws a friendly punch into Indrid’s shoulder and Indrid doesn't even try to dodge.

For once the oracle was stunned silent. “Are you. . ._teasing_ me?”

“Welcome to the Pine Guard buddy.” Duck rolls his eyes and begins to sort through the stacks of notebooks on the table.

“Don’t deny it!” Aubrey squeals “You two were all over each other-”

“I was trying to save her life!”

“Oh yeah and doing your little turn on the catwalk really got her heart beating I’m sure.” Aubrey leered. “You beautiful disaster, I’m so proud of you.”

“I won’t be teaming up with anyone.” Indrid hisses. “In case you haven't noticed we’re oddly numbered and my abilities are useless out in the field. I’ll remain here and- _Duck put that down!_” 

Indrid whips around sharply but he’s too late. Duck begins to sputter incoherently and the sketchbook he was holding is slammed shut.

“Jesus Christ Indrid-” He’s as red in the face as Indrids' glasses and Indrid can feel his own heating up to match. “I know you’re new at this whole having a crush thing but do we have to have a talk? About like, boundaries?”

Indrid snatches his sketchbook back, nearly seething with anger. “I don’t get to choose what I see and draw _Duck_. If I could I would never lay eyes on you kissing your cat on the mouth _ever again_.”

“That’s Daddy and Todd’s special time!” Duck protests weakly.

“Can I see it can I see it can I see it canIseeit?” Aubrey's jumping up and down at Indrid’s elbow while Ned laughs his ass off in the background. 

Indrid tenses up. Then he flips the sketchbook open to his most recent (and most embarrassing) drawing and rips it out unceremoniously.

***

You walk downstairs only to find yourself in the middle of some weird shit, which seems to be your new normal.

Aubrey, Duck, and Ned are watching Indrid chew and swallow. . .gum?- with equal parts horror and respect on their faces. 

“What’d I miss?” You laugh and then everyone's eyes are anywhere but you.

“Cool clothes.” Aubrey shoots you finger guns.

You shoot them back of course. “Thanks.” When you drop you hands you sigh. “I’m going to have to go back today, if just to get some of my own stuff.” Medicine, clothes, ancient family antiques. Hopefully at least some things are salvageable. 

Ned talking breaks you out of your depression spiral. “We were actually going to do stuff in teams today, leave no man left behind. I volunteered my services to Duck-”

“Don’t fucking say it like that dude.” 

“-Mama and Barclay are nigh inseparable, so we assumed you would go with-”

“Me!” Aubrey yells right by your ear as she rushes to grab you. When you look at her in alarm she simply shrugs. “Girls day.”

You can’t argue with that. “Girls day.” You agree. You take a seat at the table and miss the glances flying over your head like laser beams. 

“You got any ideas?” Duck’s looking at the wall but you figure he must be talking to you.

“Yep.” You nod. There’s a cup of coffee set aside for you and when you take a sip it’s exactly how you like it. “Holy shit. This is _perfect_. How’d you know?” 

Your eyes automatically go to Indrid but he has his head turned away from you, he hasn’t looked at you at all since you came down actually.

“Lucky guess.” Ned answers your question. “Your plan?”

You take another sip. “Well I figure we better start with a fuckton of Raid and go from there.”

***

The general store is, unfortunately, out of Raid.

“Real big bug problem around here lately.” Leo explains, punctuating his sentence by slamming a rolled up magazine down on an unfortunate mosquito. “You two wouldn’t happen to know anything about that now, would ya?”

You shrug while Aubrey puts away your various poisons.

“You sure this stuff is going to help our little problem?” Aubrey asks you when you leave.

“This is just step one.” You admit. “We get to the Abomination-“

“I’ve been calling it the Swarm.” Aubrey says spookily.

“Oh that's good. Yeah we blast the fuck outta the Swarm but then we still have a problem.” 

“The bodies.” Aubrey guesses.

“Exactly.” You nod. “It’s like a zombie movie. We’re going to have to destroy the bodies somehow. . .”

“Hey, hey, hey watch this.” You turn to look at Aubrey. She snaps, flicks her thumb like a lighter and aims the can of bug spray up to the small flame that emerges from the tip of her finger. When she squeezes down on the bug spray bottle it ignites, causing a surprisingly large jet of flame.

“AUBREY you GENIUS.” You shout, racing forward to hug her. 

“Hell yeah!” She hugs you back and you jump up and down. “Listen, Duck gets real on edge about forest fires so maybe not tell him this part.”

“Agreed.” You shake on it. “Now let's go help me pack.”

***

Indrid Cold rises from his spot at the table and swings open the door, mere seconds before Duck bursts through it. “Duck, what a surprise.” he says dryly. 

“Indrid.” Duck huffs, catching his breath. “I got this really bad feeling-”

“Yes, Aubrey is planning on using fire to fight the Swarm. It won’t go too bad, and she is much more reliable than any old flamethrower.” Indrid spills the beans.

“Absolutely not.” Duck refuses. “We can’t go into the forest with _flamethrowers_-”

“This isn’t my conversation to have.” Indrid turns away.

“Hey. . . are you still-?”

“I’m not upset.” Indrid says unconvincingly, then sighs. “There are not many futures where this conversation turns out well, Duck.”

“Well what kind of friend would I be if I didn't try?” Duck takes a seat and Indrid squashes down any warmth that comes from being called a friend. “I’m real sorry for ribbing on ya this morning, we just forgot you’re probably not used to that kinda stuff but we have good intentions-

“Fucking _Barclay_.” Indrid scowls.

“. . yeah Barclay told us about your vision. He hasn’t told Mama though so you know he’s real serious about it but hell Indrid, all of us just want to be happy.”

“Duck. Change the subject or get out.” 

Duck sighs. “Alright.” Not wanting to leave his obviously distressed friend alone he searches for a topic. “So-”

“The crystal is a piece of Sylvain.” Indrid answers Ducks unspoken question. “I’m welcome back at any time, same with Barclay, and the crystal provides us with Her Light so we don’t have to get our life force from the hot springs like the exiles.”

An imaginary light bulb goes off over Ducks head. “So you’ve never-”

“I don’t own a swimsuit, Duck.”

“You can-”

“No.” 

“Oh come on! We’ll make it a guys day. Ned’ll be there-

“Ned will not be there. He gets to escape.”

“-Barclay, Jake, Dani-” Duck counts off on his fingers.

“Dani’s not a guy.”

“Yeah but Jake won’t agree to anything if Dani gets left out.” Duck tries to look serious. “Come on, how do I convince you to take it easy for once?”

Indrid spins around in his chair and finally faces Duck. “I’m not agreeing but I know you’re not going to give up because you think this’ll make up for your actions earlier, but I will go just to get you to shut up and to prove I forgive you.”

“Victory!” Duck exclaims.

“There are also precisely 0 futures where I agree to wear your old swim trunks.”

***

“Oh hell yeah my swimsuit!” You hold the garment up out of your luggage. “Hey Aubrey is, _H2Whoah! That was Fun!_ still open?”

“No we sorta destroyed it on the last hunt.” Aubrey shrugs. You’re both sitting on the floor of your bedroom picking and choosing what's going to go with you to the Lodge for your extended stay and what doesn't make the cut. “Ooh bring this.” She throws a shirt at you and you groan when you read it.

The shirt has a picture of a moth or butterfly above bold typewriter font text reading “I'd pin that”. It was funny for about a week and now just makes for uncomfortable situations with strangers.

“Hey at least it's better than this one.” Aubrey says, holding up another shirt that says “Save the Land Octopus!” with a picture of, you guessed it, a spider. 

“Stop making fun of my fashion sense!” You ball up the offending shirt and throw it at her.

She catches it and slam dunks it in the bag your packing anyway, laughing. “Alright, alright but you should totally bring your swimsuit. There’s a hot springs at the Lodge.”

Your attention snaps back to her. “Really?” 

“Yeah the Sylvans need it to like, give them energy because they’re away from their home planet. Dani says it’s like _Harvest Moon_.” She shrugs.

“Dani. . . she was at your party right?” You ask, noticing the blush on Aubrey's face.

“Yeah.” Aubrey’s single word answer is all you need to pounce.

“She’s cute, isn't she?” You lean in, raising your eyebrows suggestively.

“Yes, she is.” Aubrey groans. “So cute.”

“What is she then, like a grasshopper or some kind of praying mantis-”

“Not everyone's secretly a bug, _Queen Bee_. She’s just a vampire.”

“Just a vampire!” You laugh. "I guess someones a big _Twilight_ fan-”

“Like you’re one to talk!” Aubrey scoffs.

“What do you mean?” You tilt your head in confusion.

“Indrid's like, a hundred years old. If anyone’s into vampires here it’s you.” Aubrey points a finger at you accusingly.

“. . Was I that obvious?” You say meekly. You were pretty shaken up last night and when you remembered what you said this morning you wanted to die, no wonder Indrid hadn’t even looked at you.

“Obvious to everyone except Indrid of course.” Aubrey rolls her eyes. “But he’d probably be real upset I told you how old he is, he’s real sensitive about his past.” She whispers like you're at the Lodge and not a good half mile away.

“Okay.” You whisper back. ‘But don’t change the subject. We’re talking about Dani.”

“I think I love her.” Aubrey says, suddenly serious. “Can I just- I’ve never been able to really talk about this -my _feelings_ don’t have a place in all this saving the world business, but sometimes it feels like she is my world. She’s a home I haven't had in a long time.” 

Aubrey looks over to where you’re barely holding it together and laughs. “Are you okay?”

“Aubrey!” You crawl over to hug her. “That’s so romantic, I think I’m gonna cry.” 

“Please don’t.” She hugs you back again. “Y’know I haven't gotten this much physical affection in ages.”

You pull back suddenly. “Oh no! What if Dani thinks we’re dating- I mean I'm wearing your clothes and-”

Aubrey’s laughter cuts you off. “I’m pretty sure everyone knows where your affections lie, Queenie.” 

“Don’t call me that.” You protest weakly, regretting telling Aubrey about your super secret heritage. "My grandma was the _Gyne_ not me. I’ve never transformed or anything.”

“I think it’s awesome! You’re pretty much the only proof that Sylphs and humans can intermix!”

“Maybe you and Dani can have little firebender vampire babies?” You shoot back.

Aubrey just rolls her eyes again. ‘Whatever bugfucker- now pack that swimsuit, we gotta go flirt with some aliens.”

***

“Indrid, your vibes are absolutely _rancid_.” Jake Coolice yells. 

“I have no idea what you just said.” Indrid replies honestly.

“C’mon! You can’t just put your feet in-”

“Most of my legs are in actually.”

“Dude you’re wearing fucking jeans!” Jake stares at him in disgust.

“Why can’t I?” Indrid defends himself but he knows Jake is right. Wet denim was one of the worst feelings in the world and Indrid had been shot once. “I can chill. I’m hanging.”

Jake looks like he wants to cry as Indrid swings his terribly heavy legs back and forth. He was going to have nightmares for weeks.

“I don’t see how this is helping the investigation, Duck. We’re pretty much a bug buffet out here.” Barclay had a visible cloud of bug spray around him but it wasn’t doing anyone any good. Flies and gnats flew in in near sheets and attacked anything that didn't move quickly enough.

“This is what we call fieldwork my man. You gotta get out in the throng of it to really understand- HEY!” Duck was cut off by a splash as Indrid threw himself directly into the springs. “What the hell was that for?” Duck sputters.

***

“Ths suits a little smaller than I remember. . .“ You trail off, looking at yourself in the mirror. It’d look cute on someone like Aubrey or even elegant on Moira but on you it just. . .

“You look sexy as hell c’mon let's go!” Aubrey nearly pushes you through the doors that head out back.

“Hell-O boys and Dani!” Aubrey announces your arrival loudly. You see Dani wave and Aubrey makes a beeline for her, leaving you alone. Feeling much more awkward than sexy you sit on the edge, smiling politely at your fellow Pine Guard members. You stare down at your reflection and judge her, but a loud noise from the center draws your attention. 

Indrid Cold emerges from the hot springs, spitting out water and shaking like a dog.

“Real nice ‘Drid. Once again, not suspicious at all.’ Duck says dryly, which is ironic because you're in a pool.

“Shut up Duck.” Indrid hisses and adjusts his glasses that are still on somehow. His face is flushed red -which is a lovely color on him for sure- from the heat of the springs and you have to tear your eyes away when you realize the water had turned his solid white tank top nearly translucent and his blush continues _all the way down ohmygod-_

You slip into the springs, hoping to mask the heat of your own face as well as the one between your thighs. When you breach the surface again Duck is still lecturing.

“Well what now genius?” Duck looks as disappointed as one can be in pizza-patterned swim trunks.

“I honestly didn’t think this far ahead." Indrid sounds breathy and embarrassed and you inch forward like a shark stalking its next meal.

“Dude, your VIBES.” Jake yells. “You’re throwing of the natural pH balance of the springs or something!”

Indrid seemingly relents and begins to wade back to the side. Not on your fucking watch. He’s nearly at the edge when you swim up behind him and playfully grab his ankle under the water. He yelps and pulls up quickly and you follow after, laughing. 

“Hey.” You say when Indrid continues to look at you, speechless. “Why do you have your glasses on in the pool?”

“My glasses?” Indrid repeats you.

“Yeah.” You pull yourself up to sit beside him, a little closer than necessary. “They’re all fogged up.” You bring up you hand slowly but Indrid stays perfectly still as you wipe one of his lenses with your thumb. 

“They’re my disguise.” He finally answers.

“A real Clark Kent then, huh?” You keep your eyes focused solely on his face but with those glasses Indrid’s eyes could be _anywhere_ and.

It’s a little exciting. 

“No.” Indrid shakes his head. “The glasses give me a human disguise, without them I’d be a monster and-” He gives you a weak laugh. “-that form draws a little too much attention.”

You frown when he calls himself a monster. “Hey, I’m-

“Sorry about bringing up the Mothman festival.”/“Sorry about bringing up the Mothman festival.”

Indrid chuckles at your shocked face. “Don’t be, I was just a little surprised.”

You don’t relent. “I just-

“Hope I didn't make you uncomfortable.”/“Hope I didn't make you uncomfortable.”

“You didn’t.” Indrid hums.

“So you can see the future?”/“So you can see the future?”

“I see many futures, almost all! Some are highly probable, like Aubrey laughing at a particularly bad joke-” And exactly on cue Aubrey busts a gut “-or extremely improbable, like Ned bursting through the doors and doing a ‘phoon on us.”

“What's a ‘phoon-” You start to ask but are cut off by the doors slamming open behind you.

‘“PHOON!!” The unmistakable voice of Ned “Improbable Does Not Equal Impossible” Chicane comes through. 

“DEAR GOD HAVE MERCY.” Aubrey screams in horror and you close your eyes and accept your fate. 

There's a sound of a huge splash and you brace for it, but no water hits you.

Ned’s moans of pain eventually get you to open your eyes, but all you do is stare at Indrids face which is much closer than you remember. He pulls away quickly and you catch your breath. Indrid’s back is drenched, he had blocked the majority of the ‘phoon from hitting you and across the pool Aubrey wolf whistles.

"That." Indrid says in a low voice. "Is a 'phoon."

You just stare at him and nod dumbly.

“And I think I'm done for the day!.” Indrid pulls away and starts to leave, walking stiffly in his soaked jeans.

You stare after him. “Yeah I think I should go too-”

“Like hell you are.” Barclay pulls you back in. “Give him some space, that man just got more action than he’s had in the last century.”

You bush and sink down until only your eyes are above water.

***

Indrid books it to his Winnebago, leaving puddles of water throughout Amnesty Lodge that he knows Barclay is going to yell at him for later. He’s soaking wet and freezing and by the time the door of the Winnebago closes behind him his teeth are chattering. He flails around blindly for the switch that turns on the lights, and more importantly his beloved heat lamps, and sighs contentedly as their comforting red glow fills up the small space. Safely entombed in a prison of his own making, he raises his eyes up to the ceiling and groans.

_What_ was he _thinking_?! He obviously hadn’t been and that was his problem. He knew he couldn't avoid you forever but he had wished he had more time in between inevitably humiliating himself in front of you. 

Indrid strips off his wet clothes and throws them on the bathroom floor, scowling at himself in the mirror as he waits for the water to heat up. He was tall -only Barclay rivaled him in height- and lanky -his ribs and spine poked out through his skin- and his chest and back were both covered in nasty scars carried over from his Sylvan form.

He popped his glasses off.

The Mothman sighed in relief as his second pair of arms came into existence. His human form was handy but the disconnect between mind and body was still there, and Indrid couldn't count the number of times he had tried to move one of his extra arms only to be surprised when there was no limb there to move. Four arms, two legs and a pair of wings all condensed into the 2x2 body of a human was bad enough though so the disguise stopped there and Indrid retained all the invisible benefits of a Sylvan. He didn’t know much about Earth’s moths species, save for the few similarities he could see within himself, but he knew enough that he could easily figure he couldn’t be categorized among them. 

He ran a proboscis-like tongue along his wicked sharp teeth and his mandibles chittered in agreement.

He puts his glasses back on and turns away from the mirror. It didn't take a fortune teller to know that anyone who claimed to love bugs would have second thoughts upon seeing him. 

***

You don’t see Indrid again for the rest of the night, and you are very disappointed. You try not to let it show too clearly on your face and, well if you stare longingly at the Winnebago parked out front Aubrey is cool enough to block you from the rest of the group. 

Duck shot down your flamethrower idea before you could even bring it up and when you and Aubrey argued back what other ways you could get rid of the bodies left behind by the Swarm he began shouting off suggestions. 

“-a woodchipper, grinding them to dust, feeding them to a dog-”

“Duck that's nasty.” Aubrey complained.

“The dog could work.” You admit. Vanilla’s cricket meals haven’t come back to haunt you yet at least. 

“-flush them down the toilet, lock ‘em in a box and bury it, even picking them up one at a time and safely transporting them back here to burn is preferable.” Duck finishes his rant.

“Alright so that’ll be plan B then.” You say.

“It’s not a plan at all! It’s not plan B, its not plan C. . .” Duck continued to list off the alphabet but you blocked him out. 

“So today was a waste.” Mama sighs. "At least we haven’t had any attack on the townsfolk yet.”

You nod in agreement, feeling a stab of guilt. Your collections had definitely increased the Swarm’s lethality but it seemed for now it was patiently lying in wait.

But for what?

The thought is still in your head as you all go your separate ways for the night. You worried about the others being able to sense your nervousness, which in turn made you worry even more.

When you strip down for the night, you don’t bother putting on your pajamas. You let your mind wander along with your hands.

The phone rings outside but mentally you’re back in the hot springs, crushed between the edge and Indrid Cold. You let out a moan as his long fingers slowly make their way up your thigh and he smiles horribly wide down at you. You reach up to caress his face, to tug him down, to do _anything_ and your fingers trace along the rim of his glasses before slipping under and pulling them off revealing-

There’s a knocking at your door. “Phone for you.” 

“GOD. Damnit Aubrey.” You hiss and begin putting yourself together. You stalk out of your room in whatever clothes you could find and angrily pull up to where Aubrey is waiting for you, phone in hand.

You take it from her. “Hello?” 

“Hello, it’s- well its me.” It’s fucking Indrid of course. “I’m afraid I have a confession to make.”

Your heart skips a beat. “Oh?” You say.

“Yes, truly I should have told you earlier-” He begins but your brain shuts down. Is this it?! Is this it?! Why the fuck is he calling you when he could be inside and in your room already-

“When I have visions -which is all the time, it never stops- I can’t choose what I may see.”

“Uh-huh.” You’re lost.

“Of course that means that there's a, ahem, privacy issue-” 

The ball drops, taking your stomach with it.

“And it's my duty as the one who receives the visions to uh, inform you. If you choose to resume your. . . activities.” He sounds as embarrassed as you feel.

“Oh my God.” You moan.

“I’m very sorry.” Indrid continues talking while you wait for the floor to open up and swallow you. “Should I not have done it over the phone?”

“Nope, phone’s the better alternative.” If Indrid knocked on your door in person to tell you he could see you masturbating you would have actually had to move states again. “I'm going to go smother myself, goodnight.” You hang up and bolt back to your room, your face burning as you go. You don’t smother yourself but you do scream into your pillow as catharsis, before punching it into a shape you deem suitable and forcing yourself to sleep.

***

Outside of Amnesty Lodge, Indrid bangs his head against the wall repeatedly but more importantly the Swarm bobbed and weaved throughout the Monongahela forest, assessing its land. 

_ build, collect, rear, pollinate _

Made up of hundreds of insects the Swarm behaved much like a hive. It doesn't know who it’s following but its been programmed by nature to take their instructions as doctrine.

_sting, bite, harm, kill_

It was supposed to be gaining in size, reproducing and resurrecting at increased rates but it had been interrupted. Earlier that day a disruption had sent shock signals through its hivemind, leaving it without its orders.

_queen_

You didn’t know it but your simple act of relaxing in the hot springs of Amnesty Lodge had fully awoken the Sylvan half of you, and the bugs were having none of it.

_save the queen, serve the queen, the queen is our mother and master_

**false queen**

**threat**

_follow the queen, love the queen, we must protect her_

**invader**

**reject her**

The Swarm was fighting with itself and it didn't know what to do.

_ **follow orders** _

But from who?

So it continued flying nowhere, gathering intel and waging a silent war within its mind.

And for whichever one came out on top, there were sure to be casualties and consequences for the losing side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> id pin that: https://www.etsy.com/hk-en/listing/662372165/entomology-id-pin-that-womens-cut-scoop  
save the land octopus: https://www.amazon.com/Spider-T-Shirt-Save-Octopus-Tarantula/dp/B07MCR56VJ


	5. comet

You don’t see Indrid the next day. Or the next.

Or the day after that.

You’re not even embarrassed anymore, just annoyed. The only reason you know he’s still around is the Winnebago parked out front and the one time you managed to see him escaping through a back door.

It’s real hard to get the upper hand on someone that can see the future and is hellbent on avoiding you. You just wish he would have told somebody to warn you that your car was going to break down today. 

“STUPID car, STUPID radio silence zone, and STUPID. FUCKING. MOTHMAN.” You kick the wheel of your 2006 Jeep Wrangler, and the hazard lights go off. “AAAAAAHHHHHHGGGG.” You scream up at the quickly darkening sky.

You’re almost to busy beating up your car to notice the sound of a motorcycle. Almost. They pull up behind you and dismount and enough light remains that you can notice their garish yellow and black ensemble.

“Nice car you got here, I’m Hollis. They/them.” They stride towards you with their hand outstretched and you take it and reply with your name and pronouns in kind. “I haven't seen you around before, you new here?” 

“Yeah. Just moved in about a week ago, I don't get into town much.” You huff. “And for good reason.” You gesture towards. . . well everything. 

“Let me take a look at it.” They smile. You oblige and pop the hood.

“Well, there’s your problem.” They say after a few minutes of looking it over. “You have ants in, everything actually.”

“What?” You rush forward. “How? Why would that make my car break down?” 

Hollis shrugs off your first question. “My guess would be the hundreds of bodies in the fuel tank, but really it's anybody's guess.”

“Fuck.” You swear. “Fuucckk. I gotta fuckin’ walk home-”

“I’ll call over a couple of my guys and we can tow it to our shop.” Hollis shuts you down. “We’ll see what we can do about it. If that’s okay with you of course.” They nod in your direction.

“You’d do that?” You’re oddly flattered.

“Well I’m not going to leave someone stranded on the side of the road.” They laugh, and whip out a walkie-talkie- which is a good idea and you made a mental note to bring those up to the Pine Guard later.

“Big Boss to King Kepler, over.” You snort at the codenames and Hollis rolls their eyes.

“Yeah, whats up boss?” An excited voice comes through the tinny speaker.

“Bring the truck and some tie-downs out here wouldya?” Hollis describes where you are. “Over.”

“Big Boss huh?” You manage to say it without laughing, but it’s hard.

“It was Keith’s idea. He’s a bit paranoid.”

“You mean King Kepler?” You give up and start laughing. “_Over_.”

“Hey I’m trying to help you!” Hollis complains but they’re laughing too. “So, what brings you to Kepler?”

You and Hollis shoot the shit for the greater part of half an hour. You try to keep your story as bare and boring as possible but Hollis surprises you by being relentless interested in whatever you have to say.

“Hell yeah!” They exclaim when you talk about your bug passion. “I actually named my gang the Hornets, nothing scarier to the common folk than a buncha rogue _hymenoptera_.”

“That’s cool!” You scramble your brain for hornet facts. ”Hey did you know-”

Before you can embarrass yourself the bright headlights of a very large and loud truck cut through the darkness. Keith, who you assume is driving the truck with several Hornets hanging off of it, is blaring a Green Day album.

“What up Hollis?” Keith shouts over the music.

“Car broke down. Tow it up to the shop for me.” Hollis shouts back.

“HUH?”

“I SAID-”

“Nah I heard you the first time. “ He pulls in front of you and parks, and the Hornets immediately get to strapping up your car. Keith jumps out of the truck and walks up to where you and Hollis are. “I’m Keith, he/him.”

You introduce yourself. “I assume you're King Kepler?” 

Keith has the gall to look embarrassed. “Yep, uh- I haven't seen you around before.”

You sigh. “Yeah I’m new. I’ve been holed up past Amnesty Lodge-”

A look of horror flashes on Keith’s face and you drop it. “Amnesty Lodge huh?” He turns suddenly serious. “I think you should come with us, to keep an eye on your car here.”

You look between the two gang members and from behind you even more Hornets whoop, signalling your car is ready to rumble.

“Sounds like fun.” You squeak out. “Uh, how am I. . . getting there?”

Hollis and Keith shoot glances at each other.

***

“THIS IS FUCKING AWESOME.” You scream at the top of your lungs as the landscape whips past you at seemingly impossible speeds.

“I KNOW RIGHT?” Hollis yells right back. They’re leading the charge of their fellow Hornets and you arms are locked in a deathgrip around their waist.

“I AM TERRIFIED.” You squeal excitedly. Hollis makes a sudden turn up through the woods and before your eyes a absolue bunker of a house pulls into view. 

“Alright, welcome to the Hornets Nest.” Hollis pulls up to a stop and looks back at you. “You can get off now.”

“I can’t feel my arms. Or my legs.” You admit as you detangle yourself. Hollis laughs as they dismount and offer you their arm. 

“Well, looks like you better stick with me then.”

***

The Hornets base is actually a bar and their ‘shop’ is actually just a garage where they upgrade their bikes but your car fits in right aside the couple motorcycles already in there. You’re whisked off to the bar where Hollis hands you a RC cola for your troubles.

“Whaddya think?” They nod at you as you look out on the floor. Hornets are everywhere, wailing on a Karaoke machine, trading jokes along with punches, and just generally messing around.

“I think it’s pretty fucking cool.” You whisper without meaning too.

“You sure that was your first time on a bike? Cause if you’re interested I can-”

Keith drops down on the barstool on the other side of you, and you groan mentally.

“Hey new girl, Hollis.” Keith acknowledges your presence with a nod. “You mentioned you’ve been living up at Amnesty Lodge?” 

“A little farther up past it, actually.” You answer. You don’t feel the need to let him in on your current sleeping arrangements and family comes first as Moira would say.

“Okay, okay that's good.” Keith fumbles.

“My aunt lives there though.” You stare at him. “And I’m pretty close with everyone else. Why?” You try to keep any hint of a challenge out of your voice.

“You should be careful around that lodge.” Keith tells you. “Weird shit, both the people in it and the stuff that happens around here.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” You slam the rest of your drink. “I think I’m ready to go now, thanks for everything.”

“Of course.” Hollis helps you up. “Eh, sorry about Keith he’s just-”

“Just watching out for his family, I get it. Me too.” You manage a smile as Hollis leads you out with one hand on your back. “If I ask you to drop me off at the lodge. . “

Hollis sighs. “Yeah I’d tell everyone.”

You chuckle. “I didn’t expect anything else.” 

“You sure?” Hollis asks as you both board their bike, hands going round their waist again. “It’d be no problem to go a little farther.”

“I’m sure Mama will let me stay a night.” You try to sound indifferent but a sudden breeze gets your teeth chattering.

Hollis wordlessly hands you their jacket before swerving off into the night.

***

Hollis turns into the Amnesty Lodge lot so sharply it has to be illegal.

“Be careful!” You playfully swat at their shoulder. “There’s an FBI agent in there.”

“Thanks for the warning.” Hollis winks. You bite your lip at giving away any info at all on the Lodge but hopefully the news of the FBI being involved made it intimidating enough to stay away. 

The Hornets don’t have to know its just a Bigfoot fanatic in a fancy suit.

“We’ll be in touch.” You wave them off and they pull out with a deafening roar, kicking up dust and dirt as they speed out back on the road.

You’re still smiling as you walk in through the front doors but it's quickly wiped off your face. 

“And where the hell have you been?”

“Safe.” You shrug.

“With the Hornets?!” Aubrey runs toward you.

“I didn’t say I was with the Hornets. . .” You mumble as she checks over your hands. Clearly this Hornet-Lodge rivally goes a bit deeper than you thought.

“You’re wearing their jacket!” Ah. Yes you were. 

“My car broke down!” You rush to defend yourself. “They’re fixing it up for me. Maybe if I would have known something was going to happen, I would have shot you a message! Or better yet, not go out at all!” You snap.

A little ‘ahem’ comes from behind you.

_ Oh you GOTTA be fucking kidding me._

“Hi Indrid.” You spin around. “Fancy seeing you around.” 

Indrid has the decency to look ashamed. You ignore him and take a seat, spinning your chair around to look at Mama.

“So, what’d I miss?” 

Mama huffs and puts her hands on her hips. “Indrid,” She stretches the word out “has some news on our Abomination. The thing were supposed to be focusing on.”

You spin around to face him, trying your hardest not to let your irritation show on your face.

Indrid shuffles some papers and adjust his glasses, pointedly avoiding your gaze. “The Swarm seems to have split off into two equal sized groups, one taking up residence in the southern parts of the Monongahela and the other to the north, with Kepler right in the middle.”

“Sounds like a typical hive splitting.” You hum. “But that wouldn’t happen on it’s own, something must have moved them.” 

Mama writes _hive splitting?_ on the whiteboard behind her, alongside _aliens???_ and _Duck is no longer allowed to answer questions_.

“So how would a hive typically be split?” Aubey asks.

“Well to avoid the bees swarming from overpopulation-” You start

“A little late for that.” Ned scoffs

“-you have to have seperate hives-”

“The north and south?” Duck supplies.

“-and introduce a new queen.” You finish.

The Pine Guard is silent for a beat. 

“Hey. . . wasn’t your grandma a bee sylph?” Aubrey approaches the subject awkwardly.

“Yeah? What does that have to do with. . “ You trail off when you notice the whole room is looking at you. “Oh come on, you can’t possibly think that _I’m_ the Queen.”

There's a general shuffling of feet and clearing of throats. 

“You still don’t trust me?” You feel wounded. “I already told you I don’t know anything.”

“What were you talking about with the Hornets?” Mama levels her gaze at you and you shoot out of your chair.

“I didn’t have to tell them anything! They’re already suspicious enough of you without my help!” You’re trembling with anger. “I’ve been trying to help! And you still don’t trust me? You’re still keeping secrets from me too! You think I haven’t noticed that there's just a _guy_ in the basement?” You look around at the room full of people you thought were your friends. Suddenly no one's eyes are on you.

“We have to be careful-” Mama starts but you cut her off.

“I think I have to leave.” You say and turn around, heading towards the door.

“Where are you going?” Aubrey cries out.

“Home.” You slam the door behind you and lean against it, blinking away tears. No one comes after you. You take a deep breath and begin hiking the long trail back.

You’re barely out of the parking lot when low headlights and a deafening engine block your way.

“Hey, Hollis forgot their. . . Are you okay?” Keith looks at you with equal parts concern and suspicion. 

“Can you drive me home?” You barely swallow a sob but the tears are rolling down your face hard and fast.

“Sure, sure.” He unbuckles his helmet and tosses it to you and you throw a leg over the bike and bury your face into his back.

“It’s just right up the lane.” Your voice is muffled but Keith takes off.

The long walk is reduced to a 20 minute drive but this time you don’t pay attention to the sidelines, instead keeping your eyes screwed shut the whole way. 

“Is this it?” Keith breaks the silence after parking in your overgrown driveway.

“Yeah. Thanks.” Your voice is scratchy and you stiffly throw your leg over the side to dismount, stumbling as you go. You take off Hollis’s jacket and hand it over; Keith tucks it under his arm but doesn’t leave. 

“Hey.” Keith starts. “I wanted to apologize.”

You cock your head.

“I know you’re still pretty new and for whatever reason the Amnesty crowd has taken you in-” You let out a sad chuckle. “-but you should be careful around them. Just, trust me on this.”

“Thanks Keith.” You nod. 

“But like, as long as you’re cool with them or whatever,” He flounders for words. “How’s Jake doing?”

You actually laugh then. “Do you wanna come inside?”

“Sure, sure.” Keith blushes but parks his bike and follows you up the walk. 

“Jake’s nice. I like Jake. He’s a little weird but he’s cool. How do you know him?” You say absentmindedly as you walk up to the door. 

“Before the Hornets were, well the Hornets we were a stunt club. Hollis formed it into a gang after they became the boss and Jake left.” He shrugs. “Has Jake ever mentioned us?”

You squint at him.

“Specifically me?” The hardened gang member squeaks under your gaze.

You laugh. “I actually haven’t talked to him much, and when I did, I'm pretty sure he was drunk. But everybody at the lodge cares about him, keeps ‘im safe you know?” As you reach the top of your driveway you are reminded why you weren't supposed to come back. “Oh yeah.”

The windows were still broken, the glass sparkling from the moonlight in the grass outside.

“Jesus.” Keith swears. “Were you robbed?” 

You make a quick decision. “Yes. Yeah when I first got into town it was like this. So Mama let me stay at the lodge for a couple of days.” You sigh and swing open the door. Shards of glass litter the hallways and the walls are bare, with what few broken frames remaining hanging loosely from one or two pegs. “Sorry.” You turn to Keith with a half hearted shrug. 

“Shit, you can’t stay here like this.” Keith scratches the back of his head.

“I’ll be fine, no one comes up here this late anyway. I still got some cardboard boxes, just gotta tape them over the windows, or something.” You mumble.

“I’ll help.” Keith says and you look at him in surprise.

“Oh no, I can’t ask that.” You shake your head.

“You don’t have to ask, I’m offering.” He smiles and you laugh again.

“Geez, good thing I ran into you guys tonight.” You playfully punch his shoulder. “Keep on being so nice to me and I just might join you.”

“Can you ride a bike?” Keith offers.

You hum. “Yeah, I have one with a little basket on it.” You both laugh. “I’ll go grab some trash bags and we can get started."

***

“She’s not coming back.” Indrid speaks over steepled fingers.

“Of course not, she has a Hornet with her!” Mama peers out through a slit in the blinds. 

“Still, she shouldn’t be out in the woods with the Swarm running about.” Aubrey was equally concerned, but for a different reason. “What if it goes after her?” 

“Hey guys?” Jake and Dani’s heads pop in the doorway. “What's going on?” 

“The new girls selling us out to the Hornets.” Mama says.

“She won’t-she wouldn’t-” Aubrey argues but even she knows she sounds unconvinced. 

“Indrid!” Mama snaps around. “What do you see?”

Indrid looks away. The truth is he _hadn’t_ seen your car break down because he had been purposefully avoiding any hint of you in the futures, telling himself it was for your own sake but equally for his. Avoiding you as well, but that was for his own peace of mind. But now as he scans through potentials and possibilities he wonders if that led to his own, as well as the Lodge’s undoing.

“Nothing. We’re safe.” Indrid sighs in relief. 

“See!” Aubrey gloats. 

“Alright.” Mama calms down. “When -or if- she comes back I owe her an apology.”

“Of course she’ll come back.” Aubrey says with as much confidence as if she’d had her own vision. “Vanilla’s still here.”

***

“Oh my god I forgot my fucking spider.” You’re on your knees picking up glass with rubber gloves when the thought strikes. 

“Spider? Where?” Keith looks around frantically.

“No I left him at the lodge.” You groan. “Oh my god if I don’t clean out his water dish he might _die_."

“For real?” Keith asks. 

“No. But he will throw a fit and hide in the corner.” You lie back on the ground. “AH SHIT I FORGOT ABOUT THE GLASS.”

“ARE YOU OKAY?” Keith rushes forward to help you.

“Haha yeah. Just messin' around.” You yawn. “Well, looks like its about time to cleanse the ol’ flesh prison, so you better get to going bike boy.”

“You don’t make any sense.” Keith shakes his head at you and you shoot him a wink in return. “Alright, me an’ Hollis will be around to drop your car off in a couple days, until then.” He takes out his walkie-talkie and hands it to you.

“Aw man I can’t accept this. What if you get into a crash on the way back and you’re left without your only source of communication because you gave it up to some girl you barely know?”

“I better not crash then.” He gives you a wave as he turns to leave. “Good luck with the, uh, house.”

“I got it under control.” You salute him off.

Keith jogs to his bike, the night air leaving you both comfortably warm. He waves again before pulling off and you resist the urge to chase him down the lane waving your goodbye maniacally. When he’s finally out of view you turn back, inspecting your work on the house. Most of the glass was either in bags or swept up into piles, and the walls were shockingly bare.

_Maybe some new wallpaper._ You think to yourself. _Or some tapestries. Maybe a map._ You would never admit it outloud in fear of upsetting your grandfather's ghost but you had always thought his wall-to-wall collection was tacky. 

You’re humming you yourself and thinking about the wall decor when you turn into the main room, but there you stop in your tracks.   
The orchid mantis is back. The window you had half-heartedly taped some cardboard over was thrown wide open and it stood on your coffee table, looking at you with an almost human intelligence. 

“**_Queen._**” An ungodly voice seems to come from every corner room and as you stand frozen in place you see it _did_. 

Termites burrow through your walls, wasps come down through the chimney and earthworms fall down at your feet.

You see a flurry of wings, and then you see nothing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> pls do not invite strangers into your home no matter how cool they are  
i made hollis a bug nerd cause i CAN  
its is specifically a 2006 jeep wrangler because thats the type you can pop the doors and hood off of and i think that it looks cool
> 
> behind the scenes trivia: originally the orchid mantis was your pet instead of a tarantula, and the name vanilla made sense because the vanilla flower is a type of orchid BUT i figured a tarantula would make more sense as a pet in west virginia BUT i was already invested in the name AND orchid mantids are cool as fuck so theres still one in the story.


	6. white witch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> all the funky latin terms are defined at the end! hope u enjoy (yes im still alive so sorry)

You wake up slowly, your senses coming back to you one by one. You smell petrichor and feel the spongy sensation of moss under your head. When you open your eyes the sky is dark and the pines blot out the moon and stars. You try to sit up to view your surroundings but you barely get an inch off the ground. You twist back and forth and try to flail your arms but they’re stuck at your sides, and your legs are bound as well. You look down at your body as much as you can and your brain doesn't immediately register what you see.

You’ve been cocooned. That’s the only word you have for it. Spiders work their way around your torso, weaving silk around your body and effectively trapping you. You wiggle but they hold their ground and seemingly quicken their pace. You can hear them, chittering amongst themselves and as your ears strain you find you can sort of understand all the clicks and buzzes around you.

“**_wrap her up- keep her safe- under our watchful eye- free her- human body-_**”

You, understandably, start to freak out then. You manage to roll over onto your stomach but your arachnid jailers just climb onto your back and seem to ‘tsk’ at your insolence. 

“Help!” You cry out. “Anybody!”

“**_calm._**” You’re rolled back over and you crane your neck to see a small crew of ants pushing at your side. That dreaded orchid mantis scuttles onto your chest and cocks its head, looking at you like it’s next meal.

“**_hurry._**” It gives an order and the insects and arachnids get right back to work, and you feel your head being propped up for the spiders to finish their wrapping. 

_This is it._ Your mind spins at a hundred miles an hour. _This is how I die. I’m going to be liquified by digestive enzymes and they’ll find my skeleton buried with the refuse._ Tears prick at the corners of your eyes. _So stupid, this doesn’t make sense-_

_So make sense out of it._

That last thought sounded a lot like your grandpa but you latched onto it. 

_Argiope aurantia, Brachymyrmex depilis, and Hymenopus coronatus._ The spiders were up to your neck now and had no sign of stopping, seemingly following the mantis’s orders.

_Wait. Why would ants and spiders take orders from a mantis? Spider’s don’t follow a hierarchy and ants only serve-_ Your eyes widen. _I’M the queen. I have to act like it._

“Stop.” You try to sound as regal as possible. “Stop it. Let me go.” 

The bugs ignore you. 

“Stop it! Seriously, you gotta be kidding.” Annoyance starts to creep into your tone. “Kidnapping me? From my own home? And spiders taking orders? From a mantis?! Do you know how many basic rules of nature are being thrown out the window right now?” 

Surprisingly the bugs stop in their tracks at your words.

“**_upset? angry?_**”

“Yeah you bet I’m upset. Let me go!” You try to wiggle again and this time the bugs jump off, the ants letting your head come to rest gently on the ground.

“**_Queen why do you fight? tell us what to do!_**”

“I am! “ You wiggle harder. “Can you even hear me?”

You stop in your tracks. They _can’t_ hear you, they don’t even have ears but then how-

_”Pheromones, honeycomb! They’re the most important thing in the world; to animals, humans, and. . .”_

_“Bugs!” You cheered from your spot on the floor, watching your grandfather lecture. _

_“Exactly! Since our buddy Choco here doesn’t have any ears, how does he communicate with his tarantula girlfriend?” Your grandfather holds out a tarantula and lets it crawl onto your eagerly outstretched hand._

_“With smells!” You cheer._

_“Corr-ect! That’s a special sticker for you. . . ._

Wow was that a flashback? You thought those only happened in movies. Either way you started focusing all your energy on smelling your way to freedom.

There’s a flurry of action beyond your range of sight and you somehow you can sense what the colony- what _your_ colony is thinking. 

**_safety- the hive- home- bring to-_** the cacophony of voices from an ununified hivemind prove to be too much and your eyes start to flutter closed again.

_Home._ And your last coherent thought is of the gathering room of the Amnesty Lodge. 

***

“Moira _please_. . .”

“I will _not!_” The spectral woman stamped her foot in anger. “I am absolutely dismayed at the level of ineptitude here tonight!” 

“I can’t believe we’re still talking about this, she chose to leave on her own-”

“Yes! Out into the _woods_, at _night_, all _alone_ where there's _monsters!_ AND boys on motorcycles- oh Queenie would have my head.” Moira huffed and threw on a coat- entirely for show as it fell right through her to the ground. “I’m going after her.”

“She’s an adult Moira. And she’s safe, right Indrid?” Duck looked to the clairvoyant, desperate to ease the tension.

Indrid bristled. “I’m not _omniscient_ you know. I have more important things to do than keep constant watch on some girl.” 

“What happened between you two anyway?” Aubrey yawned from her place on Dani’s lap. “You were like, all over each other and then it was really awkward when you kept avoiding her.”

“I wasn’t avoiding her.” Indrid mumbled. “Moira, don’t forget your disguise.”

Moira didn’t acknowledge him but slipped her ring on her finger anyway before heading out the door.

“Don’t change the subject.” Aubrey snapped her fingers at him, leaning up to a sitting position. Dani looked sad at not being able to play with her hair anymore, making Indrid feel even worse. “You totally were.”

“I wasn’t.”

“You hid in the pantry for a solid twenty minuites ‘Drid.” Barclay accused him. Damn Barclay. Indrid made a mental note to bring up all the failed souffles that graced the trash can after a certain FBI agent brought the dish up _once_. “Either you were trying to hide or you have a weird thing for listening to people eat cereal and talk about _90 Day Fiance_.”

“You heard that?” Ned choked. All eyes turned to him. “I mean I listen to her ramble about it on occasion- of course I, Ned ‘Panache’ Chicane, have a much better taste in media- but someone's opinions on shitty reality TV are _sacred_ and should be held to the utmost of secrecy.”

Mama rolled her eyes.

“Indrid.” Duck took a seat next to the Sylph, sighing. “Is it about the porn thing?”

Luckily Indrid doesn't have to answer, as he makes a break for the door.

A split second afterward a scream breaks through the night.

The remaining members of the Pine Guard quickly rushed out after him, spilling out into the road. 

“Over there!” Someone calls out. There’s a loud buzzing in the air-not any sort of manmade appliance but something more natural, almost harmonious. 

There’s Moiras frantic yelling coming from the woods and they head towards it, all equal parts terrified over whatever it could be. The air becomes heavier with every step forward, literally. Gnats and flies bite at the intruders and there's an audible _squish_ and _crush_ with every step they take, like they are walking out into a sea of exoskeletons. Aubrey shoots concentrated fire bullets at some of the bigger bugs that dive bomb them, hissing, as Duck takes the lead. 

“Moira!” Mama yells out. “Indrid!” 

“Over here!” Moira calls back. A wave runs through the swarm and for a second they all freeze in midair, as if recalculating. It’s eerily silent for a moment, but then the humming and buzzing starts up again full force as the gathered forces seemingly escape into thin air- digging into the ground and under the bark of trees and such.

The Pine Guard can clearly see Moira now, only actually being a few yards away. She’s on her knees on the ground, holding what seems to be a white sleeping bag, stained with mud and leaves. Her face is pale, and Indrid stands off to the side as if he’d seen a ghost. 

***

When you come too for the second time, it’s under much better circumstances. Sure, you’re sticky all over and no amount of therapy will get you closer to understanding the revelations of the last couple of hours, but at least you’re on a couch. 

Probably. You can’t really feel anything under your neck.

There’s some indistinguishable noises coming from somewhere in the room and you furrow your brow.

_Shut up._ You try to whine but your voice is shot. You resort to wiggling again instead, because that hasn't let you down yet. 

_thump_

Okay good. You were on a couch, or at least you were a second ago. Now you’re in pain from hitting your nose on a hardwood floor.

You try to say ‘Please help, I’m dying.’

“Huurhmg.” Is what comes out. Still you get the desired result as you are quickly turned back over. 

The world is bright- too bright and too loud. All the voices are in your face now. 

“Jesus Christ what happened?” Someone takes your pulse, and their fingers are pleasantly warm.

“Aubrey?” You mumble. 

“YES oh God you’re talking, keep talking that’s good.” Aubrey sounds worried. You wonder why. 

“Can’t breathe.” You scrunch up your face, the only muscles you have access to.

“Okay okay- PLEASE still have skin oh my GOD.” A single warm line travels down your body and your insectoid casket begins to fall away. 

“Alright, boys out.” Another voice- this one has to be Dani. You’re aware of someone kneeling by your head and the sensation of hands in your hair eases tension from your body as the warmth spreads.

“Aunty?” You blink your eyes and Moira’s face comes into focus.

“Sshh honeycomb. Everythings going to be alright.” She continues to pet your head and you nuzzle into it because damn thats feels great. If you weren’t terrified of falling asleep now you could have nodded off again. 

“Can you hear me?” Someone else leans down over you. You have to squint your eyes a little but you can make out Mama’s weathered face, drawn and anxious. 

“Yep.” You pop the ‘p’. “What up buttercup?”

Mama chuckles softly. “Glad to see you’re feeling okay. “ 

Your arms pop free and you sit up, relishing in your regained ability to stretch your muscles. 

“Better ‘en ever.” You slur your words together. “Like a seaweed bath but, y’know horrible.” 

“Do you remember what happened? Was it the Abomination or?” She trails off.

You let your arms fall down. “Yeah about that. . .” You kick your legs free of what remains of their bindings and look down at your body. “Can I get some clothes first?” 

Your shirt and pants were unfortunately ruined. Aubrey, in her hurry to save your life, had burned straight through them. It was an easy enough fix, though it was going to be hard to explain the straight line from neck to crotch, so you weren't too upset. You stumble to your feet and kick off your wet shoes and socks (gross) before grabbing a flannel hanging close by.

“Whos is this?” You ask your entourage. 

“Pretty sure that’s Barclay’s.” Dani answers.

You think about it for a second.

“HEY BARCLAY?”

“YEAH?” You hear him from the kitchen.

“ARE YOU EMOTIONALLY ATTACHED TO THIS SHIRT IN HERE?”

“NO, NOT REALLY.”

“COOL CAN I HAVE IT?”

“YEAH GO AHEAD.”

“Why are you yelling he’s literally just behind that door.” Dani shakes her head. 

“Oh.” You pull the flannel on. Its large enough to fall over your knees and hands and it smells like spices.

You manage your way over to the kitchen door, Aubrey holding you at your elbow while Moira frets around. 

“Guess who lived, bitches!” Aubrey kicks open the door and leads you to a seat.

“I did!” You cheer weakly.

“What the hell happened?” Duck asks while you settle in. Barclay’s prepared you a cup of hot cocoa and you take it gratefully, even though you’d prefer some eggnog.

“So it turns out Mama’s right.” You take a long sip of your drink and avoid eye contact.

“I like to think I usually am, but what do you mean?” Mama asks you.

You stare down into your cup. “Theabominatiothinksi’mthequeen WHEW did anyone catch _90 Day Fiance_ last night because HOO BOY-”

Mama calls you by your name and you look at her helplessly. “Start from the beginning. After you left the Lodge.”

You nod and stare off into space, trying to make yourself as small as possible. “After I left the Lodge. Right. Well Keith came by cause Hollis forgot their jacket and he wanted to talk-”

“About what?” 

“He wanted to apologize for what he said, or implied I guess. He warned me to keep safe. And then I asked him to drive me home but when we got there it was still all broken of course so I told him I was robbed and you let me stay here. He helped me clean up-”

“You let him INSIDE?” Moira interrupts and you groan. 

“He’s a good guy-”

“You invited a stranger into your _hooouuse_ in the middle of the _wooooods_, it’s a good thing i’m already dead because you must be trying to give me a _heart attack!!_” Moira wails.

“OKAY BUT he LEAVES and THEN I get ambushed by bugs and I wake up in the forest and I'm able to like, hear them communicate? But not verbally- I think it’s with pheromones? And they’re trying to cover me up so I freak out and- I tell them I want to go home.” You end your story, suddenly aware of the hot tears streaking down your face. “I’m sorry.” 

A hand tilts your head up and you find yourself looking into Mama’s eyes. “Honeycomb, what are you apologizing for?”

“I’m a liability. I’m the monster.” You point a shaking finger at yourself. 

Mama pushes your hand back down and sighs. “Now there, the only monster here is the Abomination-” 

“That’s _me_.” You cry.

“No what I'm hearing is that you can control this thing, or part of it anyhow. You can give it orders.” 

“I’m a _monsteerrrrr_.” You collapse onto the table.

“Mama I don’t think-” Moira moves behind you.

“You’re missing the point! I- I’m getting nowhere.” Mama sighs.

Indrid steps up then, just within arms reach of you but hovering in your periphery.

“Hey.” He reaches a hand out, hesitates, and lays it on top of yours. “Did you know there are more species of ladybug than mammal?” 

His seemingly random comment pulls you from your misery. “. . . Yeah? Why?”

“If I’d asked you for a fact that’s what you’d’ve told me.” Indrid’s glasses are two large mirrors in front of your face and you wipe at your eyes with your sleeve. “Tell me another.”

You squint. “Why? Wouldn’t you know it already?”

“Help me out.” He’s so close and his voice is so nice, and you’re despite being unconscious for the majority of the night you feel as if you could fall asleep right now. “What happens when there are two queen bees in a hive?”

“Supersedure.” You tilt your head. “When a new queen matures and the old one isn’t doing a good enough job the workers rise up and cook her alive with their own body heat.”

There's a chorus of ‘oof’s throughout the kitchen. 

“That’s how we get the Abomination!” Aubrey jumps up to her feet in excitement. 

You look around at all the excited faces in worry and you tear your hand away from Indrid’s.

“No, we’re not going to cook you.” Indrid stops you from jumping to conclusions.

“You can get the bugs to kill the other bad queen!” Aubrey finally connects the dots for you. 

“How? They tried to kill me!” 

“That’s what we have to focus on then.” Mama declares. “Starting tomorrow. I don’t know about y’all but I’ve definitely had enough excitement for one day.”

“I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep tonight.” You admit. 

“Feel free to coop the TV then.” Mama says. “You think you're gonna need a buddy tonight or?”

You shake your head. “I’ll be fine. Probably. I just need to, think some things over.”

“Well don’t overexert yourself there.” Mama tousles your hair and when she pulls back she seems almost embarrassed. “You know how to work the microwave, the coffee pot. Barclay made dinner, there should be some put aside for ya.”

The inhabitants of the room slowly filter out, Ned and Duck both commandeering some extra rooms because it was too late to drive. Dani and Aubrey were both half asleep and if they stumbled into one room together, you weren't going to tell. Barclay tries to finish up some meaningless chores; dishes and the like but you wave him away with just a little bit of guilt tripping. 

Moira stays up with you for a few more minutes but she’s flickering, whether out of concern or sleep deprivation you can’t tell. 

“I’ll be fine.” You say. “You’ll see me tomorrow morning.”

Moira looks you over one more time but relents, turning to go and stifling a yawn.

“Good night honeycomb.” She boops your nose. “Don’t stay up too late. And as for you-”

“I’ll be heading out soon as well Moira, thank you for your concern.” A dry but nonetheless musical voice fills your ears, reminding you just how much you missed it.

You peer up over the back of the couch to look. Indrid leaning against the doorway, not looking at Moira even as he addresses her. Moira turns back, sees you looking, and throws her arms in the air.

She exits with a dramatic huff, leaving you and Indrid staring at each other from across the room. All the confidence Indrid just had seemingly dissipates as soon as you’re alone and he fidgets under your gaze. He looks _wrecked_ or at least more than he usually is. His silver-black hair sticks out where its not matted against his face, which is drawn and gaunt. 

“What color are you eyes?” You blurt without thinking.

Indrid, of course, takes it your question in stride. “Red.” He tilts his glasses making them catch the light just right to flash at you.

“Wow.” You say. “Really committed to your aesthetic huh.” 

Indrid laughs lightly at that and the sound makes you feel like a kaleidoscope of butterflies taking off in your belly.

“C’mon, sit down.” You pat the seat next to you. Indrid pushes himself off the wall with hastily concealed excitement and heads towards you, looking more nervous with every step. He doesn’t take the seat beside you, choosing to stand instead. You have to crane your neck to see his face, which is blush pink. 

“I should apologize.” Indrid says.

“For what?” You ask.

Indrid chuckles but there's no humour in it. “Everything? I mean, all your troubles the last few days could be blamed on me in some capacity.” 

“Oh, so it was you that ate the last of the cereal but put the empty box back in the cupboard?” You reply.

“No that one's on Aubrey actually.” He laughs.

“Fuckin’ knew it.” 

An awkward silence fills the room.

“Why. . . were you avoiding me?” You ask in a tiny voice, focusing intently on a loose string in the couch.

“I thought you’d want your privacy.” Indrid says. “And the best thing for that was to stay as far away as possible, and to block you in my visions. Clearly it did more harm than good.”

You groan as Indrid finally addresses the elephant in the room.

“My god, Indrid I don’t care- well I do actually, that's a lie but! No big deal, I’m sure you've seen everyone. . ._you know_.” You wave your hands in the air, try and make a symbol for masturbate that isn’t just a jerk off motion, and fail miserably. 

“Well yes and- you see I wouldn't usually take it upon to interrupt the way I did but- I could, you were-” 

Indrid puts his head in his hands. “You were thinking about me.” 

Humiliation hits you like a punch to the gut. “Oh yeah.” You laugh awkwardly. “Guess you would've picked up on that.” Why didn’t you just let the spiders finish the damn job. “I mean, it’s pretty obvious that I find you attractive.” shut up shut up shut UP!

“Yes I, caught onto that.” Indrid coughs. You close your eyes and try to disappear. “So obviously the problem I had with that was-”

This is probably the weirdest way you've ever been turned down but you can deal. You’re a mature human being. You can handle a rejection. And you have way too much on your plate now anyway to even think of having a relationship on top of everything else.

“-was that I don’t actually look like this.”

Wait, what? You look at him in confusion. Silver hair, red glasses- he looks the same, save for a very, very red face now.

“I don’t understand.” You level with him.

“It’s just a disguise, I’m not even human.” Indrid gestures at himself. “When they say I’m The Mothman they're right, I’m literally a moth-man.” 

“. . .Did you have to bodysnatch a guy?” You ask and Indrid manages to look miffed.

“No. The disguise is pure magic and I choose to look like this.”

You nod sagely. “So it’s what you look like.”

“No!” Indrid sound upset. “It’s a disguise to fool humans and it _too_ well on you and now you’re convinced you have feelings for me.” 

You mull this over. “So what I’m hearing is: you should show me your moth form.” 

Indrid is speechless, a great feat. “Absolutely not.” 

“Why not? You don’t even have to really show me, you can see the future. I’m sure there's at least one where-” You’re cut off as Indrid grabs your hand.

“Not here.” Indrid looks around. “Too many windows. Would you, ahem, feel comfortable following me to my camper?”

You can only nod, probably looking a little too excited. It wasn’t everyday you got to see an attractive man turn into what was sure to be an attractive monster, though it had been happening more often.

Indrid’s winnebago is parked outside and you shudder at the cool air when it hits your bare legs. It’s almost morning and the grass is wet with dew. You turn back to check the windows for any peeping eyes but they seem clear. Last thing you need is a lecture, and you’re sure the picture right now of Indrid pulling you to his camper in just an oversized shirt would give Moira a heart attack. Your worries are vanished as Indrid opens the door and a red glow overtakes your senses. 

“Wow.” You sigh as the warmth from, what, six? space heaters rushes over you. They’re the only sources of light in the small space but they illuminate enough to show you that the place is messy, with piles of crumpled up paper and more mugs than any one person should own set everywhere.

Indrid nervously clears off a seat for you, pushing a stack of notebooks to the side. “Sorry for the mess, I don't get much company.”

You laugh and pick up one of the nearby mugs. “Where do you even get eggnog in April?” 

Indrid shrugs. “I stock up. It’s not that hard to make it either; just eggs, cream, milk, vanilla, etc.”

You light up. “That sounds really good actually.”

“Oh yeah?” Indrid smiles. “I can get you some- no, no.” He cuts himself off, shaking his head.

“Indrid.” You say worriedly. “You don’t have to do this, I promise I’ll just leave you alone if it's such a big deal.”

Indrid stands up straight, takes a deep breath, and pops his glasses off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whats this? a month of no updates and then a cliffhanger? shrug emoji.  
Argiope aurantia; yellow garden spider  
Brachymyrmex depilis; yellow ants  
Hymenopus coronatus; orchid mantis

**Author's Note:**

> so heres my magnum fucking opus  
the title is from sunglasses at night btw
> 
> this AU will take place after the tree arc but indrid sticks around kepler and never lost his glasses/duck never punched him/ so he helps out with pine guard stuff and instesd of the mimic arc there will be a miniarc of my own design so Certain Things dont have to happen!!
> 
> possible trigger warnings  
bugs and spiders, seriously if you cant do bugs this is not the work for you  
self deprecation/self hate  
talk of manipulative/abusive relationships but thatll never happen dw  
alcohol  
accidental voyeurism  
sexual content


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